Animal Musicalities: Birds, Beasts, and Evolutionary Listening (Music / Culture)

Why do birds sing? : and other tales -- Collecting silence : the sonic specimen -- Collecting songs : avian and African -- Songs on the dissecting table -- Postmodern humanity -- Listening for objectivity -- The rose garden -- Conclusion : the animanities.;"Over the past century and a half, the voices and bodies of animals have been used by scientists and music experts as a benchmark for measures of natural difference. Animal Musicalities traces music's taxonomies from Darwin to digital bird guides to show how animal song has become the starting point for enduring evaluations of species, races, and cultures. By examining the influential efforts made by a small group of men and women to define human diversity in relation to animal voices, this book raises profound questions about the creation of modern human identity, and the foundations of modern humanism."--Dust jacket. Le rabat de la jaquette indique : "Over the past century and a half, the voices and bodies of animals have been used by scientists and music experts as a benchmark for measures of natural difference. Animal Musicalities traces music's taxonomies from Darwin to digital bird guides to show how animal song has become the starting point for enduring evaluations of species, races, and cultures. By examining the influential efforts made by a small group of men and women to define human diversity in relation to animal voices, this book raises profound questions about the creation of modern human identity, and the foundations of modern humanism."

Over the past century and a half, the voices and bodies of animals have been used by scientists and music experts as a benchmark for measures of natural difference. Animal Musicalities traces music's taxonomies from Darwin to digital bird guides to show how animal song has become the starting point for enduring evaluations of species, races, and cultures. By examining the influential efforts made by a small group of men and women to define human diversity in relation to animal voices, this book raises profound questions about the creation of modern human identity, and the foundations of modern humanism.

Cover Animal Musicalities Title Copyright CONTENTS Acknowledgments Introduction PERSONHOOD ONE Why Do Birds Sing? And Other Tales IDENTITY, DIFFERENCE, AND KNOWLEDGE TWO Collecting Silence: The Sonic Specimen THREE Collecting Songs: Avian and African FOUR Songs on the Dissecting Table POSTMODERN HUMANITY, SUBJECTIVITY, AND PARADISE FIVE Postmodern Humanity SIX Listening for Objectivity SEVEN The Rose Garden Conclusion: The Animanities Notes Bibliography Index ABOUT THE AUTHOR How conflicts between science and the humanities have shaped our understanding of the line between art and animal behavior