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SoSe 21: Race and Music

Jessica Gienow-Hecht, Brandon Keith Brown

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Music is the only art form that goes directly to the human spirit, states Pierre Bourdieu. More than any other genre, classical music has been stated to divide society by race and class. Orchestras base their business model typically and historically on visions of middle-class (and middle-age) audiences that, just as typically, turn out to be white. At the same time, even modern pop musical forms often presume but rarely do cross racial lines. Why is that so and where does the racial divide in music stem from? This course examines the interplay of music and race in North American history. We will examine different genres of music across time and space with a particular eye on agency and target audience, sound and word. We will look at both classical and modern musicians of the African-American diaspora and North America, including their their experiences, their art and politics, and their receptions. Through an interdisciplinary approach using history, critical race theory, and cultural sociology, we’ll discuss and define racism, bias, inequality, and scripts of exclusion and inclusion in both pop and classical music. Moreover, we will examine to what extent and how shared empathy through sound may have the potential to influence, perhaps even change racial conscience, decreasing discrimination and exclusion in and outside stages ranging from street gigs to the concert hall. The seminar seeks to fulfill two objectives: first, we will spend a significant amount of time considering some of the most recent literature dedicated to the history and present experience of music and race. Both historians and musicologists have identified peculiar factors informing the interplay of music and politics. These include specific music genres, minstrelsy, jazz clubs, the music industry, and the interplay of music and civil rights. What cocktail, we’ll ask eventually, does it take to activate music as an instrument of both power and suppression and how do race and music interplay? Second, we will try to understand the mechanism of sound in the name of identity, discrimination, political action and discuss whether there are particular lessons for the impending future. close