Music as Multimodal Discourse: Semiotics, Power and Protest

Description

We communicate multimodally. Everyday communication involves not only words, but gestures, images, videos, sounds and of course, music. Music has traditionally been viewed as a separate object that we can isolate, discuss, perform and listen to. However, much of music's power lies in its use as multimodal communication. It is not just lyrics which lend songs their meaning, but images and musical sounds as well. The music industry, governments and artists have always relied on posters, films and album covers to enhance music's semiotic meaning. This book considers musical sound as multimodal communication, examining the interacting meaning potential of sonic aspects such as rhythm, instrumentation, pitch, tonality, melody and their interrelationships with text, image and other modes, drawing upon, and extending the conceptual territory of social semiotics. In so doing, this book brings together research from scholars to explore questions around how we communicate through musical discourse, and in the discourses of music. Methods in this collection are drawn from Critical Discourse Analysis, Social Semiotics and Music Studies to expose both the function and semiotic potential of the various modes used in songs and other musical texts. These analyses reveal how each mode works in various contexts from around the world often articulating counter-hegemonic and subversive discourses of identity and belonging. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Figures Tables Contributors Preface Acknowledgements 1 Understanding Music as Multimodal Discourse Introduction Music, discourse and meanings Critical Discourse Analysis Music and multimodal analysis Talk and text in musicology Notes References 2 The Role of Music in Ridiculing the Working Classes in Reality Television Introduction Critical studies of reality television Methodology: studying music in film and television Analysis of Böda Camping Music and setting Rhythm Melodies Social relations and composition Music, character motif and narrative Phrasing and articulation in melodies Music and internal states of mind Conclusion References 3 ‘Shame Makes the World Go Around’: Performed and Embodied (Gendered) Class Disgust in Morrissey’s ‘The Slum Mums’ Introduction Interpreting ‘Slum Mums’ The broader historical discourse on class and social welfare Morrissey as a raconteur of the marginalized Creating the classed subject through lyrics Music, class and the gendered, singing body ‘Structures of feelings’19 in ‘The Slum Mums’ ‘The Slum Mums’ today Notes References 4 Recontextualization and Fascist Music Introduction Music, politics, identity Fascist music, fascist movement Recontextualization Recontextualization, 1: textual appropriation Recontextualization, 2: cover versions and ideological realignments Recontextualization, 3: interpolation Conclusion Notes References 5 Authenticity and Subversion: Articulations in Protest Music Videos’ Struggle with Countercultural Politics and Authenticity Introduction Music, politics and authenticity Data Approach to analysis Turkey’s mediascape, relations with the government and protest music Lyrics Images Music Conclusion Appendix: lyrics References 6 Sonic Logos Introduction The heraldic function of sonic logos The sonic expression of identity The sonic expression of group identity Intertextuality Case study: news signature tunes Case study: sonic logos of IT companies Conclusion Notes References 7 ‘If You Have Nothing To Say – Sing It!’: On the Interplay of Music, Voice and Lyrics in the Advertising Jingle Structural meaning potentials Representing the world Engaging, convincing and seducing Conclusion Note References 8 When the Fairy Tale Is Over: An Analysis of Songs and Institutional Discourse against Domestic Violence in Spain Introduction Domestic violence in Spain Methodological approach Analysis 1. Bebe’s ‘Malo’ 2. El Chojín’s ‘El final del cuento de hadas’ Conclusion Notes References 9 Indigenous Hip Hop as Anti-colonial Discourse in Guatemala Introduction Colonial discourse and ethnicity in Guatemala Musical manifestations of colonial discourse in Guatemala The Maya movement and anti-colonial discourse in Guatemala Maya hip hop and Balam Ajpu Maya hip hop as anti-colonial discourse Conclusion References 10 Song, Sonic Metaphor, and Countercultural Discourse in British Folk-Rock Recordings Introduction The controversial evolution of the recording mode Folk into Folk-Rock Music and metaphor theory Recording, meaning and metaphor The uses of production in folk-rock: ‘Boys of Bedlam’ Recorded space as psychic space: ‘Pentangling’ Image schemata Production and subject-position: ‘The Murder of Maria Marten’ Conclusion Notes References Index