Focusing on the context of the United States, the seminar will introduce students to cultural constructions of racialized blackness in and through sound. Looking at the musical genres blues, hip-hop, techno and punk, the seminar will explore how these are constructed as black or non-black and how they serve to define the perception of blackness in terms of racialized identities. What does it mean when musical genres are perceived as raced, as for example in the association of hip hop with blackness and of punk with whiteness? How have artists sought to both exploit and counter such racial constructions in and through sound? What is the role of the listener in this? These are some of the questions students will touch upon during the seminar. In doing so, they will also reflect on their own perceptions and role in cultural racialization and how these inflect their research, for example in the form of the questions they ask, the material they choose and the way they explore resources. Thus, the seminar will offer a critical introduction into cultural studies approaches to race (such as the concept of racialization), sound and scientific research methodologies while also sensibilizing students to questions of positionality within research.
Course reading:
Omi, Michael and Howard Winant. “The Theory of Racial Formation”. in: Racial Formation in the United States. 3rd Edition. New York & London: Routledge, 2015. Print. pp.105-137.
Spicer, Daniel. "Chains of the Heart". The Wire Issue 356. Oct. 2013: 34-41. Print.
These and additional texts for the seminar will be available on Moodle at the beginning of the semester.
The following guides to the MLA Stlye must be read prior to the start of the seminar:
http://www.uni-saarland.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Professoren/fr43_ProfFrenk/Guidelines/MLA_Style_Sheet_7th_ed_rev.pdf
http://englisch.tu-dortmund.de/cms/Medienpool/Downloads/HausarbeitenStyleSheet.pdf
Films:
Afropunk: The Movie. Dir. James Spooner. Afro-Punk Distr. 2003. Web.
http://youtu.be/fanQHFAxXH0
Music:
Cybotron. Enter. Fantasy Records, 1983. CD.
Public Enemy. Fear of a Black Planet. Def Jam Recordings, 1990. CD.
Roberts, Matana. Coin Coin Chapter 2: Mississippi Moonchile. Constellation Records, 2013. CD. |
