USSY 222 - Writing Rock and Roll: From the Critical to the Ethnographic

Institution:

Case Western Reserve University

Subject:

Description:

To write about music is finally an act of translation. When one writes about music, s/he attempts to bring a thing conceived in one symbolic world into another. The task is neither simple nor straightforward. As one musician, fed up with the critics who put pen to paper in the effort to capture his music, put it: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture." And for a moment, this musician's point might seem apt. The experience of music, often intense, is arguably "beyond words." Why try to tame it by putting it in the cage of language? This course considers the pitfalls and the possibilities of the symbolic translation that is at the heart of writing about music. Focusing on the writings associated with rock and roll culture (1954-2005), the class will consider the multiplicity of approaches and styles used to capture music. Prereq: Passing letter grade in a 100 level first year seminar in USFS, FSSY, FSCC, FSNA, FSSO or FSCS. Prereq or Coreq: FSTS 100

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.case.edu

Phone Number:

(216) 368-2000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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