Musical Meaning in Between

Abstract

Ineffability of musical meaning is a frequent theme in music philosophy. However, talk about musical meaning persists and seems to be not only inherently enjoyable and socially acceptable, but also functionally useful. Relying on a phenomenological account of musical meaning combined with a naturalist explanatory attitude, we argue for a novel explanation of how ineffability is a feature of musical meaning and experience and we show why it cannot be remedied by perfecting language or musico-philosophical study. Musical meaning is seen as an experiential phenomenon that consists of layers, some recent, others archaic. As such, musical meaning is strongly characterized by asubjectivity. It is in-between, in a state where the division of subject and object is not yet valid or valid anymore. A naturalistic interplay of experiential layers in music brings about a non-reified dynamics driving for expressions, interpretations, engenderings of (musical) subjects and objects or even for political action. Generally speaking, the inbetweenness of musical meaning can never be universally reified or symbolic nor can it ever be "subjective," "mine" or present "at the origin." In this view, ineffability has two primary reasons. First, the criteria offered for defining musical meaning are often too strict, resulting in untenable pretensions of universality. Second, the processual and relational nature of the in-between keeps meaning in flux; any snapshot creates a new situation and new meanings.

Taidekasvatuksen ekososiaalinen kehys: Kohti kestävyystietoista elämänorientaatiota

“…Avautuminen olevan läsnäololle -musiikissa, metsässä tai maalauksessa -voi vapauttaa kokemaan merkityksellisyyttä siinä, mikä jo on ilman jatkuvaa pyrkimystä siihen, mitä pitäisi olla. Tällaista täyteisen läsnäolon kokemusta voidaan kuvata myös asubjektiivisen käsitteellä (Vadén & Torvinen 2014). Tällaisessa kokemuksessa kaikki on ikään kuin läsnä, vaikkei kokemusta useinkaan voi tyhjentävästi ymmärtää tai sanoittaa.…”

“…Tällaisessa kokemuksessa kaikki on ikään kuin läsnä, vaikkei kokemusta useinkaan voi tyhjentävästi ymmärtää tai sanoittaa. Sanoittamisen vaikeus liittyy siihen, ettei asubjektiivista kokemusta voida redusoida vain kohteen, esimerkiksi merenrannan, objektiivisiksi ominaisuuksiksi tai kokijan, merenrantakävelystä nauttivan subjektin, psykologiaksi (Vadén & Torvinen 2014). Kokemus on sen sijaan subjektin ja objektin välissä olevaa eli minun ja meren suhteessa tapahtuvaa, johon kietoutuu elämän kaikkeus.…”

EcoJustice Approach to Dance Education

“…Like phenomenology, ecophenomenology is interested in the phenomenon of experience, but on the other hand, it seeks to challenge the human-centered and subjective conception of experience (Brown and Toadvine 2003). The meaning of experience in ecophenomenology can be described, for example, with the concept of asubjectivity, which still acknowledges the subject as the one who experiences, but refers to a specific quality of a primary experience that appears in-between subjects and objects (Vadén and Torvinen 2014;Värri 2018). For example, when dancing in contact with others, the dancer may feel the individual ego dissolving and experiencing unity with others (Foster 2012).…”