Unfortunately, as I begin to research a new topic, I am still having some of the same issues as I did with my last topic. Much of what I’ve had trouble with is simply not knowing what to search to read about what I want to learn. When I was writing about Hildegard, this was unfortunate but not surprising; I basically had to make my own connections because the connection between Hildegard’s music and music of the Black church hasn’t been made before. I assumed that this new topic–gender and theology in gospel music–would be a road better traveled. However, because I haven’t extensively studied theology, theologies of music, or gospel music\/singers, I’m having a lot of trouble just figuring out what searches will bring up relevant sources. So far, I’ve tried combinations of gender\/wom*\/fem*\/gospel\/religi*\/names of gospel singers. I’ve found a lot of articles that look interesting, but I’m not quite sure how I’ll make an argument out of them.<\/p>\n
Based on what I’ve read so far, here are some concepts I’d like to try to connect or find out more about:<\/p>\n
Black women as “musical missionaries” (Jerma A. Jackson)–looking at Rosetta Tharpe as an example<\/p>\n
Judith Butler’s thoughts on sound\/music–more about popular music, but could apply the concepts<\/p>\n
Article titled “On Exoticism, Western Art Music, and the Words We Use” by Ralph P. Locke–haven’t read the whole thing yet, but has a lot of important perspectives that I’d like to incorporate, esp. because I don’t want this paper to turn into a study of the “exotic other.”<\/p>\n
Useful article by Tammy L. Kernodle that gives an overview of African-American women’s contributions to gospel’s evolution–I will use this to find more search terms\/research specific people<\/p>\n
Idea that African American men in gospel quartets served as role models for the community–so were women singing gospel also role models or is that transgressive?<\/p>\n
Another article by Kernodle exploring Black women’s relationships with each other in musical groups–disproving the myth that they can’t work together because they’re too competitive\/focused on men–and how they can validate each other and work together (female friendships are the happiest side of women’s and gender studies so hopefully this fits somehow so I get to talk about this!!)<\/p>\n
Possibly how freedom songs\/activism grew out of the gospel movement–music as a catalyst for change–this might be pushing it too far out of the topic.<\/p>\n
Identity and sound and embodiment of music\/theology in a certain type of body<\/p>\n
So, these ideas are a little scattered right now but I see promising prospects. I hope to find some kind of common thread that will help me focus the topic, but also find enough to talk about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Unfortunately, as I begin to research a new topic, I am still having some of the same issues as I did with my last topic. Much of what I’ve had trouble with is simply not knowing what to search to … Continue reading