The Philosophy of Rhythm: Aesthetics, Music, Poetics

Abstract

Spanning all cultures, rhythm is the basic pulse that animates poetry and music. The recent explosion of scholarly interest across disciplines in the aural dimensions of aesthetic experience—particularly in sociology, cultural and media theory, and literary studies—has yet to explore this fundamental category. Discussion of rhythm tends to be confined within the discrete conceptual domains and technical vocabularies of musicology and prosody. With its original essays by philosophers, psychologists, musicians, literary theorists, and ethno-musicologists, this volume opens up wider—and plural—perspectives. It examines formal affinities between the historically interconnected fields of music, dance, and poetry, addressing key concepts such as embodiment, movement, pulse, and performance. Questions considered include: What is the distinction between rhythm and pulse? What is the relationship between everyday embodied experience, and the specific experience of music, dance, and poetry? Can aesthetics offer an understanding of rhythm that helps inform our responses to visual and other arts, as well as music, dance, and poetry? What is the relation between psychological conceptions of entrainment, and the humane concept of rhythm and meter? This collection provides a unique overview of a neglected aspect of aesthetic experience, and will appeal across disciplinary boundaries. It examines formal affinities between the historically interconnected fields of music, dance, and poetry, addressing key concepts such as embodiment, movement, pulse, and performance. The book is conceived throughout to appeal to a cross-disciplinary readership.

Citation

Cheyne, P., Hamilton, A., & Paddison, M. (Eds.). (2019). The Philosophy of Rhythm: Aesthetics, Music, Poetics. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199347773.001.0001

• Book Type: Edited Book
• Online Publication Date: Dec 26, 2019
• Publication Date: 2019
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISBN: 9780199347773
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199347773.001.0001
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1132328