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https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/16828
Title: | Music: Pathways to Personal Meaning | Contributor(s): | Foster, Dennis James (author); Hays, Terrence (supervisor); Alter, Frances (supervisor) | Conferred Date: | 2015 | Copyright Date: | 2014 | Open Access: | Yes | Handle Link: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/16828 | Abstract: | This qualitative inquiry explores the content, processes, and social functions of personal meanings of specific pieces of music. The inquiry analyses the personal meanings adhering to 390 pieces of music selected by 79 adults aged between 30 and 78 years. An innovative aspect of the inquiry is that its data sample was not collected by the researcher but drawn from an archive of radio interviews conducted by a previous interviewer. Analysis and interpretation of these data was guided by the systematic methods of constructivist, grounded theory methodology. The inquiry reveals that the content of personal meanings of specific pieces of music aligns with meanings described in previous research. However, probing beneath the surface of such descriptions, this inquiry reveals a number of distinguishing characteristics of personal meanings. Firstly, personal meanings adhere to specific pieces of music. In this case, the sounds of a piece of music, its sonic materiality, matter. Secondly, personal meanings are not fixed but are dynamic, cumulative admixtures of multiple meanings. Thirdly, personal meanings adhere to pieces of music via a number of pathways which integrate aesthetic responses to the music, acquired knowledge about the music or its performance, and biographical associations into the ongoing story of informants' lives. Fourthly, personal meanings constitute social action simultaneously engaged in the reflexive project of self and ongoing reproduction of expectations and assumptions about the role of music in social life. The inquiry suggests that previously collected qualitative data can provide trustworthy samples for later research. It also highlights the need for scholars of music to reconsider the potential of subjective meanings as sites for investigating the human experience of music. | Publication Type: | Thesis Doctoral | Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: | 139999 Education not elsewhere classified 130313 Teacher Education and Professional Development of Educators 130301 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education |
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: | 399999 Other education not elsewhere classified 390305 Professional education and training 450299 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education not elsewhere classified |
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: | 930103 Learner Development 930102 Learner and Learning Processes 930199 Learner and Learning not elsewhere classified |
Rights Statement: | Copyright 2014 - Dennis James Foster | HERDC Category Description: | T2 Thesis - Doctorate by Research | Publisher/associated links: | https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/12612 |
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Appears in Collections: | School of Education Thesis Doctoral |
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