Eight meditations on musical signification

Authors

  • Lee Griffiths Birmingham City University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jazz.25947

Keywords:

philosophy, signification, Karen Barad, meaning, semiotics

Abstract

In this article I offer eight short meditations (or perhaps provocations) on the theme of musical signification. They each cover a different theme—composition, rehearsal, sung and spoken words, writing about music, improvisation, cultural politics, technology, and listening to music—with the aim of evoking a rich and multidimensional sense of musical meaning. Their form and style are influenced by my reading of the diffractive philosophy of Karen Barad and are meant to invite a creative reading of the eight sections through one another.

Author Biography

  • Lee Griffiths, Birmingham City University

    Lee Griffiths is an M4C-funded PhD student based at Birmingham City University, who is drawing on philosopher Karen Barad’s diffractive methodology to look at the relationship between words and music in contemporary jazz practices. He graduated from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire with a BMus (Hons) in Jazz Saxophone and from the Birmingham School of Media with an MA in Media and Cultural Studies. He is also an active member of the Birmingham jazz and improvised music scene and a promoter of improvised music with Fizzle & TDE Promotions.

References

Adorno, T. W. (1989) ‘On Jazz’. Translated by Jamie Owen Daniel. Discourse 12/1: 45–69.

Barad, K. (2007) Meeting the Universe Halfway: Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC and London: Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv12101zq

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Published

2023-06-07

Issue

Vol. 16 No. 1 (2023)

Section

Articles

License

© Equinox Publishing Ltd.

For information regarding our Open Access policy, click here.

How to Cite

Griffiths, L. (2023). Eight meditations on musical signification. Jazz Research Journal, 16(1), 76–82. https://doi.org/10.1558/jazz.25947