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2023/2024

Music, Identity and Gender

Code: 100634 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2500240 Musicology OT 3 1
2500240 Musicology OT 4 1

Contact

Name:
Silvia Victoria Martinez Garcia
Email:
silvia.martinez.garcia@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject. Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2023.

Teachers

Paula Aguilera Martínez

Prerequisites

None


Objectives and Contextualisation

- Identify the processes that underlie the relationships between sociocultural gender categories and musical dynamics, in the contemporary Western world

- Obtain a critical overview of the main feminist and gender theories

- Relate the transcultural variability of symbolic and political systems with musical practices

- Apply to research the main theoretical and analytical tools recently developed in the field of Feminist Musicology, the Queer Theory and the different theoretical currents of feminism of the 20th and 21st centuries.

- Prepare small historical or ethnographic research with a gender perspective

- Develop critical thinking about Musicology and Gender Studies applied to music that contribute, in the long term, to improving the field of studies


Competences

    Musicology
  • Identify and compare the different channels of reception and consumption of music in society and in culture in each period.
  • Know and understand the historical evolution of music, its technical, stylistic, aesthetic and interpretative characteristics from a diachronic perspective.
  • Relate concepts and information from different humanistic, scientific and social disciplines, especially the interactions which are established between music and philosophy, history, art, literature and anthropology.
  • Students must be capable of applying their knowledge to their work or vocation in a professional way and they should have building arguments and problem resolution skills within their area of study.
  • Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
  • Students must develop the necessary learning skills to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
  • Students must have and understand knowledge of an area of study built on the basis of general secondary education, and while it relies on some advanced textbooks it also includes some aspects coming from the forefront of its field of study.
  • Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analyse the sex-/gender-based inequalities and gender bias in one's own area of knowledge.
  2. Carrying out a planning for the development of a subject-related work.
  3. Communicate using language that is not sexist or discriminatory.
  4. Consider how gender stereotypes and roles impinge on the exercise of the profession.
  5. Consider the subject as a whole and identify the context in which the processes studied are inscribed and their interrelationship with the elements and factors that are involved in their sociohistorical development.
  6. Define the concepts referred to in relation to the specific problems in the distinction of genres as a generator of the construction of social relations.
  7. Identify the main inequalities and discriminations in terms of sex/gender present in society.
  8. Identifying the theories about human species in their relation to society and culture production.
  9. Identifying the transcultural variability of economic, kinship, political, symbolic and cognitive, educational and gender systems as well as their corresponding anthropological theory.
  10. Submitting works in accordance with both individual and small group demands and personal styles.
  11. Use the main theoretical concepts and approaches related to questions of identity developed through the musical activity and in relation to the set of humanistic and social science disciplines.
  12. Write critical papers on musicology that are planned and organised efficiently.

Content

T.1. Key concepts for the study of Music and Gender

Readings, Materials, and Resources:

Citron, Marcia et al. Gender and the Musical Canon. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993
Green, Lucy. Música, género y educación. Madrid: Morata, 2001


T.2. Introduction to Music and Gender Studies

Readings, Materials, and Resources:

Martí, Josep. “Ser hombre o ser mujer en la música” y “Música y género entre los jóvenes barceloneses”. In: Más allá del arte...Barcelona: Deriva Ed
McClary, Susan. Feminine Endings. Music, Gender and Sexuality. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1991

Rafia Zakaria. 2022. Contra el feminismo blanco. Contintametienes. 



T.3. Women and Western Music

Readings, Materials, and Resources:

Adkins Chiti, Patricia. Las mujeres en la música. Madrid: Alianza, 1995
Leppert, R. y McClary, S. (eds.): Music and Society. The Politics of Composition, Performance and Reception. Cambridge University Press, 1987
Lorenzo, Josemi. “La historia de las mujeres y la historia de la música: ausencias, presencias y cuestiones teórico-metodológicas”. In: Marisa Manchado. Música y mujeres. Género y poder. Madrid: Ed. Horas y HORAS, pp.19-38


T.4. Feminisms, Music and Musicology

Readings, Materials, and Resources:

COOK, S. y TSOU, J. (eds.). Cecilia Reclaimed: Feminist Perspectivas donde Gender and Music. University of Illinois Press, 1993
Ramos, Pilar. Feminismo y música. Introducción crítica. Madrid: Nareca, 2003
Blog “Musicología feminista” (http://musicologiafeminista.ning.com/)


T.5. Feminisms and Popular Music

Readings, Materials, and Resources:

O’Brien, Lucy. She Bop: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop & Soul. 1995
Whiteley, Sheila. Women and Popular Music: Sexuality, Identity, and Subjectivity. New York: Routledge, 2000
Viñuela, Laura. La perspectiva de género y la música popular. Madrid: KRK, 2004


T.6. Gender and Masculinities

Readings, Materials, and Resources:

Dossieres feministas. Vol. 6 “Masculinidades. Mitos, de/construcciones y mascarades”. Castelló, 2001
Biddle, Ian and Gibson, Kirsten. Masculinity and Western Music Practice. Ashgate, 2012
Walser, Robert. Running with the Devil... Hanover: Wesleyan University Press, 1993 


T.7. Queer Theory and Musicology

Readings, Materials, and Resources:

Brett, Philip et al. (eds). Queering the Pitch. The new gay and lesbian musicology. New York: Routledge, 1994
Córdoba, D; Sáez, J; Vidarte, P. Teoría Queer. Barcelona: Egales, 2005
Hawkins, Stan. 2016. Queerness in Pop Music Aesthetics, Gender Norms, and Temporality. Routledge.  
Russell, Legacy. Glitch Feminism. A Manifesto. Verso. 
Taylor, Jodie. Playing it Queer. Popular Music, Identity and Queer World-making. Bern: Peter Lang, 2012


Methodology

Reading seminar
 
This seminar encourages students participation. The contents of the course will be acquired mainly by reading and discussing the selected texts, as well as analyzing and discussing the proposed audiovisual materials. The active follow-up of the subject implies a personal commitment to prepare the readings and actively participate in their debate in the classroom.
 
As a complement to the texts, we will also work from concrete and practical case studies, from which the theoretical aspects and the key concepts of the syllabus will be derived.
 
Personal/Group research
 
The first three weeks of class, the students agree with the teacher a topic of work related to the contents of the course, on which they will have to deepen in an autonomous research. The research work is carried out in small groups (from 2 to 4 students) to facilitate the debate, the exchange of opinions and work strategies among the students.
 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Classes (online and offline), and exams 35 1.4 5, 6, 9, 11
Type: Supervised      
Individual and collective tutorials (offline or online) 8 0.32 5, 6, 2, 11
Oral presentation of a personal research (presentations could be online) 10 0.4 6, 2, 10, 11
Seminar (possible on line meetings included) 12 0.48 6, 9, 11
Type: Autonomous      
Course readings 50 2 5, 6, 2, 9, 11

Assessment

The delivery dates and the evaluation activities will be indicated in the course program, accessible from the virtual campus (Moodle). At the time of carrying out each evaluation activity, the teaching staff will inform the students of the procedure and date of revision of the qualifications.

Class attendance is recommended for a correct follow-up of the contents and the reflections raised to the subject, although it will not be compulsory in any case. Non-attendance will not be penalized in the evaluation. Yes, continued and active attendance at class sessions will be favorably taken into account.

The individual written test will take place in the middle of the semester.

The evaluative activities of the Virtual Campus in the Questionnaire modality are mandatory.

The student will receive the grade of Not Evaluable as long as she has not delivered more than 30% of the evaluation activities.

The evaluation of the subject is designed continuously, taking into account the student's performance throughout the entire semester, therefore, the re-evaluation is considered an exceptional measure and must be previously agreed with the teacher. In order to take the reassessment test, you must have passed at least one of the partial written tests with a grade of 5.5.

In the event that the student performs any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation act, this evaluation act will be graded with 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that may be instituted. In the event that several irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for this subject will be 0.

Final grades will be reviewed directly with the teacher, on dates announced in advance.

SINGLE ASSESSMENT

  • An individual reflective work on the readings and the contents of the subject (40% of theoverall grade for the subject)
  • Oral presentation and discussion with reflections on mandatory readings (20% of the grade)
  • Test exam (40% of the overall mark)

The delivery of the work, the completion of the exam and the oral presentations will be carried out on a single date indicated in the subject program, accessible from the virtual campus


Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Exam or equivalent online activity 20% 2 0.08 5, 6, 9, 8, 11
Oral presentation of a group research 20% 15 0.6 1, 3, 5, 6, 2, 7, 10, 11, 4
Tasks in class (offline or online) 40% 8 0.32 1, 3, 5, 6, 2, 7, 8, 10, 11, 4
Written work 20% 10 0.4 2, 10, 12

Bibliography

  • Citron, Marcia J. Gender and the Musical Canon. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993
  • Green, Lucy. Música, género y educación. Madrid: Morata, 2001
  • Hawkins, Stan. The Routledge Research Companion to Popular Music and Gender, New York: Routledge, 2017
  • Manchado, Marisa. Música y mujeres. Género y poder. Madrid: Ed. Horas y HORAS, pp.19-38
  • McClary, Susan. Feminine Endings. Music, Gender and Sexuality. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1991
  • Ramos, Pilar. Feminismo y música. Introducción crítica. Madrid: Nareca, 2003
  • Taylor, Jodie. Playing it Queer. Popular Music, Identity and Queer World-making. Bern: Peter Lang, 2012
  • Viñuela, Laura. La perspectiva de género y la música popular. Madrid: KRK, 2004

Software

No specific software needed