The "Illusion of Life" rhetorical perspective: an integrated approach to the study of music as communication

Sellnow, Deanna D.; Sellnow, Timothy L.

doi:10.1080/07393180128090

Cited by 35 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Music communicates many different types of messages through the combination of sound and lyric (Sellnow & Sellnow, 2001). For example, music can be used to exchange political information (e.g., Frith, 1981;Stewart, Smith, & Denton, 1989).…”

Section: Music Effects On Arousal -2 Effects Of Music Genre and Tempomentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Music on Physiological Arousal: Explorations into Tempo and Genre

2007

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Two experiments explore the validity of conceptualizing musical beats as auditory structural features and the potential for increases in tempo to lead to greater sympathetic arousal, measured using skin conductance. In the first experiment, fast-and slow-paced rock and classical music excerpts were compared to silence. As expected, skin conductance response (SCR) frequency was greater during music processing than during silence. Skin conductance level (SCL) data showed that fast-paced music elicits greater activation than slow-paced music. Genre significantly interacted with tempo in SCR frequency, with faster tempo increasing activation for classical music while decreasing it for rock music. A second experiment was conducted to explore the possibility that the presumed familiarity of the genre led to this interaction. Although further evidence was found for conceptualizing musical beat onsets as auditory structure, the familiarity explanation was not supported. Music Effects on Arousal -2 Effects of Music Genre and Tempo on Physiological ArousalMusic communicates many different types of messages through the combination of sound and lyric (Sellnow & Sellnow, 2001). For example, music can be used to exchange political information (e.g., Frith, 1981;Stewart, Smith, & Denton, 1989).Music can also establish and portray a self-or group-image (Arnett, 1991(Arnett, , 1992Dehyle, 1998;Kendall & Carterette, 1990;Dillman Carpentier, Knobloch & Zillmann, 2003;Manuel, 1991;McLeod, 1999; see also Hansen & Hansen, 2000). Pertinent to this investigation, music can communicate emotional information (e.g., Juslin & Sloboda, 2001). In short, music is a form of "interhuman communication in which humanly organized, non-verbal sound is perceived as vehiculating primarily affective (emotional) and/or gestural (corporeal) patterns of cognition" (Tagg, 2002, p. 5).This idea of music as communication reaches the likes of audio production students, who are taught the concept of musical underscoring, or adding music to "enhance information or emotional content" in a wide variety of ways from establishing a specific locale to intensifying action (Alten, 2005, p. 360). In this realm, music becomes a key instrument in augmenting or punctuating a given message. Given the importance of arousal and/or activation in most theories of persuasion and information processing, an understanding of how music can be harnessed to instill arousal is arguably of benefit to media producers looking to utilize every possible tool when creating messages, whether the messages are commercial appeals, promotional announcements or disease-prevention messages. It is with the motivation of harnessing the psychological response to music for practical application that two experiments were conducted to test whether message creators can rely on musical tempo as a way to increase sympathetic nervous system Music Effects on Arousal -3 activation in a manner similar to other structural features of media (i.e., cuts, edits, sound effects, voice changes). Before ex...

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Section: Music Effects On Arousal -2 Effects Of Music Genre and Tempomentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Music on Physiological Arousal: Explorations into Tempo and Genre

2007

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“…Further, Langer claims that unlike discursive communication, which relies on verbal and mathematical symbols with comparatively fixed associations, music also produces meaning through nondiscursive elements or ''significant forms'' that are ''felt as a quality rather than recognized as a function'' and that have relatively less fixed, universal associations (Langer, 1953, p. 32). Extending Langer's theory of aesthetic symbolism or ''Illusion of Life'' perspective, Sellnow and Sellnow (2001) argue that to identify the conceptual significance of the discursive message (virtual experience 1 ), the rhetorical critic must first analyze the lyrics and then analyze the musical score to assess the relative tension and release patterns and the emotion(s) melodically provoked (virtual time 2 ). Next, the critic must evaluate the relationship between the score and the lyrics to determine whether the messages encoded by each are congruent or incongruent with one another (see Appendix A).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To analyze representations of woman in musical discourse in relation to a timeline of the lifecycle of the movement (Campbell, 1989;Griffin, 1952;Kraditor, 1968Kraditor, , 1981Stewart, Smith, & Denton, 2001), I used a feminist perspective and the constructs of Welter's theory of the ''Cult of True Womanhood,'' suffrage arguments from natural rights and expediency (Campbell, 1989;Giele, 1995;Kraditor, 1968Kraditor, , 1981, and cultural identity formation theory (Barker, 2000;Barker, 2002;Barker & Galasinski, 2001;Frith, 1996b;Gauntlett, 2002;Hall, 1985;Hall, 1997;Hall & DuGay, 1996) to identify shifts in portrayals of ''woman'' in the lyrics of the movement. Additionally, to enrich our understanding of the music and assess the extent to which lyrics and score operated congruently or incongruently to shape meaning, I analyzed musical scores of songs using Langer's ''Illusion of Life'' approach (Sellnow, 1991;Sellnow & Sellnow, 2001). Langer's (1953Langer's ( , 1957 Illusion of Life theory argues that music conveys meaning and emotion through aesthetic symbolism, and that music's dynamic structure depicts feeling through patterns of intensity and release similar to the intensityrelease rhythm of human experiences.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Discursive Identity Formation of Suffrage Women: Reframing the “Cult of True Womanhood” Through Song

Hurner

2006

Western Journal of Communication

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“…Sellnow and Sellnow (2001) argue that the: rhetorical power of music can only be ascertained effectively by considering both lyrical content and musical score. Music does impact meaning.…”

Section: Appraisalmentioning

confidence: 99%