Original scientific paper
Meaning Construction of Music – Sociological View of Rationalist and Empiricist Perspectives
Goran Koletić
orcid.org/0000-0003-0976-1685
; Student Odsjeka za sociologiju, Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu
Abstract
This paper deals with meaning construction of music as one of relevant topics in the field of the sociology of music. It examines the sociological view of traditional rationalist and empiricist approaches to meaning construction of music that are, to a certain extent, present today in certain scientific disciplines. The paper critically examines the shortcomings of these approaches by relying on the theory of the sociology of music. The critical approach also includes the elaboration on the sociological perspective that relies on theoretical foundations of symbolic interactionism. The first part of the paper deals theoretically with the empiricist approach and its thesis that meaning is inherent in musical notes, while the second part looks at the rationalist approach and the thesis that meaning stems from universal processes inherent in human mind. The final part of the paper brings the sociological approach that contradicts the first two by emphasizing the importance and strength of socialization and the processes of interaction that in the end construct, reproduce and transform meaning construction of music. The paper ends with a short overview of similarities between the sociological and semiotic approaches to the construction of meaning.
Keywords
empiricism; music; construction of the meanings of music; rationalism; sociology of music
Hrčak ID:
93515
URI
Publication date:
10.12.2012.
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