A Phenomenology of Musical Absorption

"Examining skilled performance in all its fascinating and mysterious intensity, Høffding reallylistens to his informants, developing exciting novel methods for interdisciplinary research onexpertise."-John Sutton, Professor of Cognitive Science, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia "A valuable addition to the growing field of music and philosophy, the results are as fascinatingas they are enlightening, and would be of interest to anyone seeking to explore the richcomplexity of musical experience and the ways in which it is possible - and indeed desirable -to understand ourselves through it."-Nanette Nielsen, Associate Professor, University of Oslo, Norway "This is a study conducted from the inside out - starting inside the masterful musicalperformances of the Danish String Quartet, explicated in a detailed set of interviews with themusicians. Høffding brings the latest developments in phenomenology and cognitive scienceto bear on these issues, and creates one of the rare places where expertise in phenomenologymeets expertise in musical performance - an overall performance not to be missed."-Shaun Gallagher, Lillian and Morrie Moss Professor of Excellence, University ofMemphis, USA This book presents a detailed analysis of what it means to be absorbed in playing music.Based on interviews with one of the world's leading classical ensembles, "The Danish StringQuartet" (DSQ), it debunks the myth that experts cannot reflect while performing, but alsoshows that intense absorption is not something that can be achieved through will, intention,prediction or planning - it remains something individuals have to be receptive to. Based inthe phenomenological tradition of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty aswell as of Dan Zahavi andShaun Gallagher, it lays out the conditions and essential structures of musical absorption.Employing the lived experience of the DSQ members, it also engages and challenges core ideasin phenomenology, philosophy of mind, enactivism, expertise studies, musical psychology,flow theory, aesthetics, dream- and sleep studies, psychopathology and social ontology, andproposes a method that integrates phenomenology and cognitive science. Simon Høffding is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Musicology, University ofOslo, Norway.

Auteur

Simon Høffding is a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Musicology, University of Oslo, Norway. He obtained his PhD in 2015 at the Centre for Subjectivity Research, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and has since held positions at the Interactive Minds Centre, University of Aarhus, and at the Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen. His interests span phenomenology, philosophy of mind, enactivism, music, self-awareness, bodily awareness, expertise, aesthetics and cross-disciplinary methodologies. His work has been published in Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences, Journal of Consciousness Studies, Musicae Scientiae and Topoi as well as in The Oxford Handbook of Western Music and Philosophy.

Résumé

This book presents a detailed analysis of what it means to be absorbed in playing music. Based on interviews with one of the world's leading classical ensembles, The Danish String Quartet (DSQ), it debunks the myth that experts cannot reflect while performing, but also shows that intense absorption is not something that can be achieved through will, intention, prediction or planning it remains something individuals have to be receptive to. Based in the phenomenological tradition of Husserl and Merleau-Ponty as well as of Dan Zahavi and Shaun Gallagher, it lays out the conditions and essential structures of musical absorption. Employing the lived experience of the DSQ members, it also engages and challenges core ideas in phenomenology, philosophy of mind, enactivism, expertise studies, musical psychology, flow theory, aesthetics, dream and sleep studies, psychopathology and social ontology, and proposes a method that integrates phenomenology and cognitive science.

Contenu
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Part I: Meeting the Danish String Quartet.- Chapter 2. How Should We Study Musical Absorption? The Phenomenological Interview.- Chapter 3. From Ragdoll to Battle Commander: The Experience of Musical Absorption.- Chapter 4. A Topography of Muscial Absorption.- Part II: Comparative Perspectives.- Chapter 5. Expertise, Mind Wandering, and Amnesia.- Chapter 6. Artistic and Aesthetic Experience.- Chapter 7. Flow.- Chapter 8. Dreaming and Sleeping.- Chapter 9. Schizophrenia and Ipseity Disturbances.- Part III. Phenomenological Underpinnings of the Musically Extended Mind.- Chapter 10. Performative Passivity.- Chapter 11. The Hive Mind: Playing Together.- Chapter 12.Conclusions.