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Music
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Music Paperback - 1997

by John Shepherd; Peter Wicke

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Reader reviews for Music

From the publisher

Music and Cultural Theory

In this book Shepherd and Wicke make a bold and original contribution to the understanding of music as a form of human expression. They argue that music is fundamental to social life. Music is not merely a form of leisure or entertainment: it is central to the very formation and reproduction of human societies.

The authors pursue this argument through a wide-ranging assessment of some of the major cultural theoretical contributions to understanding music. Theories of culture, linguistic theories, structuralist and post-structuralist theories and psychoanalytic theories of music are carefully explained and critically examined. The authors then develop their own account of music as a non-referential yet material form of human expression which embodies and conveys principles of symbolic structuring. They emphasize the human body as a principal site for the musical mediation of social and symbolic processes.

Music and Cultural Theory establishes new links between musicology and cultural studies, showing how each discipline can inform and enrich the other. It will be recommended reading for students and professionals in musicology, media and communication studies, cultural studies and the sociology of culture.

From the rear cover

In this book Shepherd and Wicke make a bold and original contribution to the understanding of music as a form of human expression. They argue that music is fundamental to social life. Music is not merely a form of leisure or entertainment: it is central to the very formation and reproduction of human societies.


The authors pursue this argument through a wide-ranging assessment of some of the major cultural theoretical contributions to understanding music. Theories of culture, linguistic theories, structuralist and post-structuralist theories and psychoanalytic theories of music are carefully explained and critically examined. The authors then develop their own account of music as a non-referential yet material form of human expression which embodies and conveys principles of symbolic structuring. They emphasize the human body as a principal site for the musical mediation of social and symbolic processes.


Music and Cultural Theory establishes new links between musicology and cultural studies, showing how each discipline can inform and enrich the other. It will be recommended reading for students and professionals in musicology, media and communication studies, cultural studies and the sociology of culture.

Details

  • Title Music
  • Author John Shepherd; Peter Wicke
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 240
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Polity Press, Cambridge
  • Publication date 1997-08-15
  • Features Bibliography
  • ISBN 9780745608648 / 0745608647
  • Weight 0.79 lbs (0.36 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.02 x 6.01 x 0.7 in (22.91 x 15.27 x 1.78 cm)
  • Category Archaeology / Anthropology
  • Library of Congress subjects Music - Philosophy and aesthetics, Music - Social aspects
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 97002730
  • Dewey Decimal Code 781.1

About the author

John Shepherd is the Chancellor's Professor of Music and Sociology at Carleton University in Canada. Professor Shepherd was from 1991-1997 the founding Director of Carleton's School for Studies in Art and Culture. His research interests include the aesthetics of music, popular music studies, theory and method in musicology, cultural studies, and the sociology of music education.