Interpretation, resonance, embodiment: affect theory and ethnomusicology

Theorising the relationship between music and affect is nothing new; scholars have long engaged the ways music expresses and influences emotions and bodily intensities. Why is it, then, that (ethno)musicologists now find themselves following rather than leading a theoretical debate that adopts so many concepts we have used for generations: intensity, embodiment, performance, resonance? This Special Issue will draw on (ethno)musicological literature that anticipated the contemporary resurgence of affect theory, and also call for an intervention in which fine-grained, ethnographically informed analysis can newly invigorate theories about the inbetweenness and intensity of encounter. The interpositions we propose centre on three ethnomusicological concepts that complicate, nuance, and refine affect theory: interpretation, resonance, and embodiment. The introduction will explicate these theoretical propositions, and the following articles will ground those concepts in fieldwork and musical particulars. The broad-ranging articles will discuss electronic dance music in Berlin, nineteenth-century operatic voices in the USA, tambura music in the USA, and musical experiences of grief. These studies will investigate and critique both affect theory and ethnomusicological methods and analysis.