The Popular and the Sacred in Music

2021-11-28 Music

Author : Antti-Ville Kärjä
Release : 2021-11-28
Genre : Music
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 494/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Popular and the Sacred in Music by : Antti-Ville Kärjä

Download or read book The Popular and the Sacred in Music written by Antti-Ville Kärjä. This book was released on 2021-11-28. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Music, as the form of art whose name derives from ancient myths, is often thought of as pure symbolic expression and associated with transcendence. Music is also a universal phenomenon and thus a profound marker of humanity. These features make music a sphere of activity where sacred and popular qualities intersect and amalgamate. In an era characterised by postsecular and postcolonial processes of religious change, re-enchantment and alternative spiritualities, the intersections of the popular and the sacred in music have become increasingly multifarious. In the book, the cultural dynamics at stake are approached by stressing the extended and multiple dimensions of the sacred and the popular, hence challenging conventional, taken-for-granted and rigid conceptualisations of both popular music and sacred music. At issue are the cultural politics of labelling music as either popular or sacred, and the disciplinary and theoretical implications of such labelling. Instead of focussing on specific genres of popular music or types of religious music, consideration centres on interrogating musical situations where a distinction between the popular and the sacred is misleading, futile and even impossible. The topic is discussed in relation to a diversity of belief systems and different repertoires of music, including classical, folk and jazz, by considering such themes as origin myths, autonomy, ingenuity and stardom, authenticity, moral ambiguity, subcultural sensibilities and political ideologies.

Secular Music, Sacred Space

2017-06-13 Religion

Author : April Stace
Release : 2017-06-13
Genre : Religion
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 182/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Secular Music, Sacred Space by : April Stace

Download or read book Secular Music, Sacred Space written by April Stace. This book was released on 2017-06-13. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Easter Sunday, 2009, was the Sunday heard ‘round the evangelical internet: NewSpring Church, the second-largest church in the Southern Baptist Convention and among the top one hundred largest churches in the US, had begun their service with the song “Highway to Hell” by hard rock band AC/DC. They had brazenly crossed the sacred/secular musical divide on the most important Sunday of the year, and commentary abounded on the value of such a step. Many were offended at the “desecration” of such a holy day, deriding Newspring as the “theater of the absurd.” Others cheered NewSpring’s engagement with “the culture” and suggested that music could be used to convert non-Christians. No mere debate over stylistic preferences, many expressed that foundational aspects of evangelical identity were at stake. While many books have been written about religious music that utilizes popular music styles (a.k.a. “contemporary Christian music”), there has yet to be a scholarly treatment of how and why popular, secular music is utilized by churches. This book addresses that lacuna by examining this emerging trend in evangelical and “emerging” churches in America. What is the motivation behind using music that seemingly has no connection to Christian theology, values, or themes—such as music by Katy Perry, AC/DC, or Van Halen—and what can we learn about post-denominational evangelical churches in America by uncovering these motives? In this book, April Stace uncovers several themes from an ethnographic study of these churches: the increasingly-porous boundary between the sacred and the secular, the importance placed on “authenticity” in contemporary American culture, how evangelicals are responding to what they perceive is an increasingly-secular society, the “turn to the subject” of contemporary culture, the desire to leave a space for expression of doubt in the worship service without fully authorizing that doubt, and the individualization of the construction of religious identity in the modern era.

Intersections of the Popular and the Sacred in Music

2020-04-02 Religion

Author : Antti-Ville Kärjä
Release : 2020-04-02
Genre : Religion
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 840/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Intersections of the Popular and the Sacred in Music by : Antti-Ville Kärjä

Download or read book Intersections of the Popular and the Sacred in Music written by Antti-Ville Kärjä. This book was released on 2020-04-02. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using a primarily theoretical lens, this book examines the interrelations of the 'popular' and the 'sacred' in the context of music. Antti-Ville Kärjä discusses conventional forms of 'popular music', and questions how dimensions of the 'popular' are present in different musics. He also looks at how the 'sacred' helps in reconceptualising these dimensions, and provides an in-depth cultural analysis of music. Intersections of the Popular and the Sacred in Music considers topics such as: music in relation to its mythological etymological roots; the elevation of certain individuals to 'star' positions, and the beliefs and values of their aficionados and fan(atic)s; music-related subcultures and their belief systems; and forms of religious music and their interrelations to definitions of the 'popular', with an emphasis on gospel, klezmer, reggae and Muslim rap. Kärjä also looks at the politics of the 'popular' and the 'sacred' in the context of music, and assesses how certain musics became intertwined with national and ethnic identities He goes on to ask why generic labels such as 'black music' are implicated in the sanctification of 'race' with its economical repercussions. Featuring several under researched yet relevant topics, this book is essential reading to courses in religion, musicology, sociology and cultural studies.

Sacred Music in Secular Society

2014-03-28 Music

Author : Dr Jonathan Arnold
Release : 2014-03-28
Genre : Music
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 737/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Sacred Music in Secular Society by : Dr Jonathan Arnold

Download or read book Sacred Music in Secular Society written by Dr Jonathan Arnold. This book was released on 2014-03-28. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sacred Music in Secular Society is a new and challenging work asking why Christian sacred music is now appealing afresh to a wide and varied audience, both religious and secular. Blending scholarship, theological reflection and interviews with some of the greatest musicians and spiritual leaders of our day, Arnold suggests that the intrinsically theological and spiritual nature of sacred music remains an immense attraction particularly in secular society. This book will appeal to readers interested in contemporary spirituality, Christianity, music, worship, faith and society, whether believers or not, including theologians, musicians and sociologists.

Gods and Guitars

2009 Popular music

Author : Michael J. Gilmour
Release : 2009
Genre : Popular music
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 395/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Gods and Guitars by : Michael J. Gilmour

Download or read book Gods and Guitars written by Michael J. Gilmour. This book was released on 2009. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Though American attitudes toward religion changed dramatically during the 1960s, interest in spirituality itself never diminished. If we listen closely, Michael Gilmour contends, we can hear an extensive religious vocabulary in the popular music of the decades that followed--articulating each generation's spiritual quest, a yearning for social justice, and the emotional highs of love and sex. Probing the lyrical canons of seminal artists including Cat Stevens, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, U2, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, Madonna, and Kanye West, Gilmour considers the ways--and reasons why--pop music's secular poets and prophets adopted religious phrases, motifs, and sacred texts.

Popular eBooks

The Popular and the Sacred in Music

Secular Music, Sacred Space

Intersections of the Popular and the Sacred in Music

Sacred Music in Secular Society

Gods and Guitars

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