MUSIC AND WOMEN IN A CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
EWHA WOMANS UNIVERSITY - GLOBAL ONLINE CAMPUS – FALL 2011
PROFESSORS HYUN KYUNG CHAE AND HEATHER WILLOUGHBY
OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT
The purpose of this course is to explore the ways in which women throughout the world engage
in musical practices. We will explore issues concerning 1) the contribution of women as
composers, patrons, and performers, 2) the portrayal of women in and through music, 3)
feminist perspectives in musical criticism, among other fields.
TEACHING METHODS ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Students will be introduced to a wide variety of Western Art and world musics, through written
texts and sound and video samples. Although this is an on-line course, it is expected that
students are prepared for class each week, having read the specified texts and having listened to
and studied the sound samples. It is understood that this may be the first English-language
course, and that some of the reading assignments may seem difficult at first. Nevertheless,
students should exert continual and diligent effort to reading and understanding the next.
Also, written assignments will be given throughout the semester. Students are expected to
complete and submit the assignments on time.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
As with any course, on-campus, or on-line, you will be expected to maintain the highest degree
of academic integrity. As such, all work for this class must be your own. You will also be
required to sign an Honor Code on-line. If a student cheats or plagiarizes in any way on
any course work or on the written reports she will automatically receive a grade of zero
for that assignment, which cannot be made up, and which most likely will result in failing
the course.
ASSESSMENT
For the purpose of determining the final grade, the components of the course will be weighed
as follows:
Midterm Assignment/Exam:
20%
Final Assignment/Exam:
20%
Weekly Participation and Written Assignments:
60%
CONTACT INFORMATION AND QUESTIONS
Professors Chae and Willoughby are more than happy to communicate with you regularly and
answer any questions you have or to discuss the class topics in greater depth. We are available
both on-line (via email) or directly at our on-campus offices.
CHAE Hyun Kyung
Department of Muisc
Office: 82-(0)2-3277-4371
Email: hkchae@ewha.ac.kr
Heather WILLOUGHBY
Graduate School of International Studies
Office: 82-(0)2-3277-4457
Email: willoughby.ewha@gmail.com
WEEKLY SCHEDULE AND READING/LISTENING ASSIGNMENTS
Week 0 (9/1~9/7)
Introduction
Week 1(9/8~
Introduction to Women and Music
* What is Music?
# What is Art Music
# Women in Art Music
* Why Study Woman in/and Music
* Purpose of Class
* Different Perspectives but thematically cohesive
# Culturally, women participate differently in music: Art Music
and “Everyday” or Folk Musics
Required Reading:
(1) Bowers, Jane & Judith Tick. “Introduction.” Women Making Music: The Western Art
Tradition, 1150-1950. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. 1987. pp. 3-14.
Optional Reading:
Blacking, John. “Humanly Organized Sound.” How Musical Is Man? Seattle: University of
Washington Press. 1973.
McClary, Susan. “Reshaping A Discipline: Musicology and Feminism in the 1990s.” Feminist
Studies 19, no.2 (Summer 1993), pp. 399-423.
Listening:
No listening assignment
Questions/Assignment:
Diverse views on the definition of music have been discussed. What is music to you?
Write a one or two page essay on your ideas about music.
Week 2
Required Reading:
Elements of Music
* Music Terminology and Elements of Music
* Listening to music without a score
* Learning from the Unfamiliar
(1) Titon, Jeff Todd, et. al. “Introduction” in Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of
the World’s Music. Schirmer, 2004.
Optional Reading:
Forney, Kristine and Joseph Machlis. “Materials of Music” The Enjoyment of Music. 10th
ed./Shorter version. W.W. Norton & Company, 2007:11-35.
Listening:
Listening examples in PPT only.
Questions/Assignment:
No written assignment.
Week 3
Genres / Canon / Music in Context
* Questions of “women’s genres”
* Do women compose differently?
* Marginalization of women’s music
* Why do women not compose large-scale works?
* Social and Political Context of Composers & Performers
# Function / Use of Music
* Emphasis on Listening
Optional Reading:
(1) Citron, Marcia J. “Gender, Professionalism and the Musical Canon.” The Journal of
Musicology, Vol. 8, No. 1 (Winter, 1990). pp. 102-117.
(2) Renee Cox Lorraine. “Recovering Jouissance: Feminist Aesthetics and Music.” Women
and Music: A History (ed. by Karin Pendle). Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University
Press. 2001. pp. 3-18.
Listening:
(1) Clara W. Schumann: Nocturne from Music for an Evening Entertainment (1835-36), Op. 6.
(2) Robert Schumann: Aufschwung [Soaring] & Warum [Why?] in his Fantasiestucke (1837)
Questions/Assignment:
Listen to Clara Schumann and Robert Schumann’s piano works in the listening assignment.
Think about the following comment and questions:
Feminists today have posed some interesting questions regarding women composers.
- Do women and men speak differently though music?
- Is there a woman’s “voice” in music, and if so, what characterizes it?
- More scientifically, does biology play a role in the creative process?
Write a 2-page response / essay regarding the questions above.
Week 4
Training / Feminist Perspectives on Music
* Historical differences in musical training processes according to
gender
* Representation vs. Creativity
* Why are there so few great female artists?
Required Reading:
(1) Neuls-Bates, Carol (ed.) “Letters of Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann,” Women in
Music. Boston: Northeastern University Press. 2004. pp. 143-155.
(2) Reich, Nancy B. ‘Introduction, Education, & Composers,” Women & Music: A History (ed.
by Karin Pendle). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 2001. pp. 147-157.
Listening:
(1) Elisabeth-Claude Jacquet de la Guerre: Suite in A minor
(2) Clara W. Schumann: Nocturne, Op. 6
Think about :
Think about female professionals in your field, and compare her experience as a women
professional with anyone we have discussed in this lecture, in terms of her training, education,
socio-cultural restrictions.
Write your comparison(a 2-page response).
Week 5
Training: Korean P’ansori
* Methods of training in Korean p’ansori traditions
Required Reading:
(1) Willoughby, Heather A. “Kim So-hûi: Tradition, Transcendence, and Transmission of the
Korean Art of P’ansori. (김소희: 한국 판소리 예술의 전통, 전수, 그리고 초월성).” Music
and Culture (음악과 문화) Volume 17, (p. 99-116). [English Version]
Optional Reading:
Willoughby, Heather A. “Destined for Greatness: Coming of Age as a Korean P’ansori
Performer.” Musical Childhoods and the Cultures of Youth, eds. Susan L. Boynton and RoeMin Kok. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2006.
Listening:
(1) Song Mangap: Chunhyang-ga: “Song of Departure”
(2) Kim Sohui: Chunhyang-ga: “Song of Departure”
(3) Shin Yonghee: Heungbo-ga: “Two Hands Clasped” (42 second excerpt only)
(4) Lee Jueun: Heungbo-ga: “Two Hands Clasped” (39 second excerpt only)
(5) Shin and Lee (voices overlapped): Heungbo-ga: “Two Hands Clasped” (43 second excerpt
only)
Questions/Assignment:
1. Think of other art forms that are past down from Master to Disciple. How are these traditions
similar or different to what you have learned about pansori?
2. Listen carefully to the voices and performance styles of Kim Sohui, Shin Younghee, and Lee
Jueun:
a. What similarities do you hear?
b. What differences do you hear?
c. What can you learn about the similarities and differences when the voices are
overlapped (as in Listening Example 5)? In what ways do you think the training process
affected the singer’s performance style?
3. After reading the assignment…
a. …think about why it is important for the three performers discussed to learn not only
the music from their master teachers, but also a moral code for living?
b. Why do you think it is important for each of them to be a well-rounded performer
(rather than only perform pansori)?
c. What effect do you think it has had on their lives to dedicate themselves to a life as a
professional performer?
Write a 2-page essay discussing the questions (2) and (3) above.
Week 6
Ritual Music
* Why women have their own ritual music
* Role of women in ceremonies and rituals
Required Reading:
(1) “Middle Ages: Chapters 1 to 3,” Women in Music: An Anthology of Source readings from
the Middle Ages to the Present. ed. Carol Neuls-Bates. Boston: Northeastern University Press.
1996. pp. 3-13.
(2) “Roman Liturgy and Chant,” A History of Western Music (7th ed.). Burkholder, J. Peter, D.
J. Grout, & Claude V. Palisca. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005. pp. 50-57.
Listening: The final chorus of the Virtues, “ Alleluia, O virga mediatrix”
Week 7
Ritual Music: Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)
Required Reading:
(1) “Hildegard of Bingen: Abbess and Composer,” Women in Music: An Anthology of Source
readings from the Middle Ages to the Present. ed. Carol Neuls-Bates. Boston: Northeastern
University Press. 1996. pp. 14-20.
Required Video Viewing:
(1) A dramatized BBC Omnibus biographical documentary" starting Patricia Routledge.
55minutes (DVD 2) in Hildegard von Bingen in Portrait, Ordo Virtutum. BBC Video,
produced by Ferene van Damme, Opus Arte 2003.
Optional Reading:
Park, JeongSook. “A Study on <Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum> of Hildgard von
Bingen (1098-1179) focused on relationship between music and text.” Master’s thesis, Ewha
Womans University, 2007.
Think about: think about Role of women in ceremonies and rituals in contemporary
societies. Do you see any changes since Middle ages.
Write up your response (a 2 page long)
Week 8
Ritual Music: Laments
* Why are laments considered “women’s music”?
* Differing views of Lament in society
* The Blues and their role as lament
Required Reading:
(1) “Lamenting Voices.” Women’s Voices across Musical Worlds. Jane A. Bernstein (ed.).
Boston: Northeastern University Press. 2004. pp. 209-211.
(2) Kernodle, Tammy L. “Having Her Say.” Women’s Voices across Musical Worlds. Jane A.
Bernstein (ed.). Boston: Northeastern University Press. 2004. pp. 213-231.
Optional Reading:
Auerbach, Susan. “From Singing to Lamenting: Women’s Musical Role in a Greek Village.
Women and Music in Cross-Cultural Perspective, Ellen Koskoff (ed.). Champaign, IL:
University of Illinois Press, 1989, pp. 25-43.
Listen:
(1) Mongolian (Tuva) Funeral Lament
(2) Italian Funeral Lament
(3) Albania Funeral Lament
(4) Bessie Tucker: “Penitentiary”
(5) Clara Smith: “Strugglin’ Woman’s Blues”
(6) Memphis Minnie: “Jitis TB Blues”
(7) Victoria Spivey: “Dirty TB Blues”
Questions/Assignment:
1. What similarities do you hear among the three funeral laments?
2. What are some of the common musical characteristics that you can hear in the funeral
laments?
3. What are some of the common musical characteristics among the four examples of the
Blues?
4. Can you think of any contemporary music that you listen to that deals with similar issues of
death, sickness, or other social/societal difficulties?
Write a 2-page essay addressing each of these questions.
Week 9
Midterm
Week 10
Theater Arts and Narratives: Opera and Cantata
* Representation of women in theater arts
Required Reading:
(1)“The Invention of Opera,” A History of Western Music (7th.ed.). New York: W.W. Norton.
2005. pp. 307-316, 320, 324-5, & 333.
Optional Reading:
(1) “The Caccinis & Barbara Strozzi: Cantata Composer outside the Theatre,” Women & Music.
Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 2001. pp. 102-107.
(2) “The Voice of Barbara Strozzi.” Women Making Music: The Western Art Tradition, 11501950, by Rosand, Ellen. (ed. J. Bowers and J. Tick), Urbana and Chicago: University of
Illinois Press, 1986, pp. 168-190.
Listen:
F. Caccini: Maria, dolce maria[Mary, Sweet Mary] from her Primo libro
B. Strozzi: Lagrime mie [My tears, what hold you back?] from her cantata,
Pleasures of Euterpe.
G. B. Pergolesi, Son imbrogliato io gia[I am all mixed up]! From her opera,
La serva padrona.
Week 11
Theater Arts and Narratives
* Representation of women in theater arts
* Men in Women’s Roles / Women in Men’s Roles
Read:
(1) Goldstein, Joshua. “The Gendering of National Culture, Or, The Only Good Woman is a
Man” in Drama Kings: Players and Publics in the Re-Creation of Peking Opera 1870-1937.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007, pp. 237-263.
(2) Mezur, Katherine. “Transforming Gender” (Chapter 1) and “The Aesthetics of FemaleLikeness” (Chapter 6) in Beautiful Boys/Outlaw Bodies: Devising Kabuki Female-Likeness.
New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005, pp. 137-175.
Required Video Viewing:
(1) Peking Opera: The Peony Pavilion (excerpt)
(2) Japanese Kabuki: The Courtesan Akoya (excerpt)
Questions/Assignment:
1. Peking Opera:
a. How are the females similar and different from one another (including costumes,
makeup, movements, and singing styles)?
b. How are stylized movements used to express femaleness?
2. Japanese Kabuki:
a. How are stylized movements used to express femaleness?
b. Is the actor convincing in his portrayal of female likeness? (If so, how? If not, why?)
3. Comparison:
a. Compare and contrast the representations of women in the two genres. What
similarities and differences do you observe and/or hear?
4. How is femaleness performed in the music you listen to (including Korean traditional music,
pop music, Western art music, etc.)?
Week 12
Women and Power: Kim Soonae (1920-2006)
* Women’s Voices in the Third World
* Nationalist Representation
* Westernization vs. Modernization
Required Reading:
(1) “Kim Soonae’s Kagok: Searching for Originality”[김순애의 가곡: 구상[具象]에서
추상[抽象]으로], Music & Culture. Volume 17, 2007. pp. 63-97. Korean version w/English
abstract. *The oral presentation of the same subject at the Conference of the Society for
Ethnomusicology the 43th (2006) is also available as an attached file.
Optional reading:
(1) McLead, John. “ Nationalist Representation,” Beginning: Postcolonialism. Manchester &
New York: Manchester University Press. 2000. pp. 67-101.
(2) Nettl, Bruno. “Some Aspects of the History of World Music in the Twentieth Century:
( Questions, Problems, Concepts.” Ethnomusicology (22), 1978 . pp. 123-36.
(3) 김순애. <성애꽃 너머로 그 노래 소리가>. 서울: 범서 출판사. 1973.
*About her autobiographical information on her life and music (Korean version).
Listen: Because you are[그대 있음에] Spring of Seoguipo](서귀포의 봄)
Questions/Assignment: Make your own analysis of the two above songs in terms of
relationship between text and music. Feel free to write up your own thoughts on how
music reflects the meaning of the text(a 2 page response)!
Week 13
Postcolonialism/ Feminism
* Identity Issues
* Dealing with “Difference”
Read:
(1) McLead , John. “Postcolonialism and Feminism,” Beginning: Colonialism. Manchester &
New York: Manchester University Press. 2000. pp. 172-203.
(2) Chae, Hyun Kyung . “A Hero’s Welcome: Diasporic Experience in Art Music Tradition.”
Paper delivered at The Annual Conference for Association for Asian Music, Chicago (March,
2009).
Listen: Mannam[encounter](1978)
Excerpts from Moonshadow(2006)
Assignment: Younhi Pagh-Paan’s diasporic experience has been on eo fhte key
components in her music. Can you think of any woman artist/writer/scholar in your field
who share the similar experience as a “third world” woman? Write a two page essay
about how does her experience is reflected in her works.
Week 14
Women and Power
* Powerful Women
* Protest Music
Read:
(1) “Empowered Voices.” Women’s Voices across Musical Worlds. Jane A. Bernstein (ed.).
Boston: Northeastern University Press. 2004, pp. 143-146.
(2) Bernstein, Jane A. “Thanks for My Weapons in Battle—My Voice and the Desire to Use
It.” Women’s Voices across Musical Worlds. Jane A. Bernstein (ed.). Boston: Northeastern
University Press. 2004, pp. 166-186.
Listen:
(1) Miriam Makeba: “Pata Pata”
(2) Diamanda Galás: “Death Letter”
(3) Umm Kulthum: “Qal Eh Ya Hliff”
(4) Violeta Parra: “Gracias a la Vida”
(5) Mercedes Sosa: “Los Hermanes”
(6) Joan Baez: “A Hard Rain’s a-gonna Fall”
Questions/Assignment:
Listen to all six women, especially Examples 3-6.
1. How do these women express their empowerment…
a. … in their lives (from the reading)?
b … in/through their music (from the listening)?
2. Think of female performers whom you believe are empowered
a. How do they demonstrate their power? (physically, musically, in their daily lives, in
their public persona, etc.)
b. Do they support a particular cause or ideal?
c. How do they use their image to support their cause?
d. How do they use their music to support their cause?
e. What, if any, effect has this had on you? (your own beliefs, support of social causes,
volunteering, etc.)
Week 15
Superstars and Diva
* Remarkable Performers throughout History and throughout the World
* Breaking Boundaries
Read: No assigned reading
Listen:
NPR 50 Great Voices
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122287224
(If this link does not work properly, simply go to www.npr.org and search for “50 Great
Voices”)
Questions/Assignment:
Listen to at least three segments regarding female performers featured in the NPR 50 Great
Voices (choose women from different countries).
Think about what you can learn from their life experiences, and their music.
* Were you aware of this individual before you listened to the show?
* What was the most significant thing you learned about their live and/or music?
* How did their music affect the people of their time?
* How does their music affect contemporary life?
Choice your favorite female performer/composer and create a 5-10 minute “radio”
segment describing her life achievements and music.
* The performer of your choice can be from any country/culture, any time period.
* Write a brief biography of her – highlighting her life’s work, accomplishments, trials,
performance triumphs, etc.
* Where possible, include specific quotes (from the individual) about her life as a
female performer.
* Include a list of musical examples that you think best exemplify the particular talents
and greatness of the individual, and explain why you think so.
Week 16
Final Exam