I started this WordPress account as part of a class last year and it’s been idle ever since. But I had an idea that would put this to use and actually help me a great deal as well.
This is my last year in my master’s program and after my last graduate course next week, I’ll be focusing on writing my thesis for my MA in literature (assuming my proposal gets approved today). Going into the master’s program I knew my thesis had to be somewhat about music. I always kept conceptual progressive music in my thoughts, due to the occasional narrative style, and continued to try to think of a way to connect the genre to literature. Marxist theory provided that connection. Beginning with Bertolt Brecht, Theodor Adorno, and Leon Trotsky, I started looking closely at the commodification of popular music today and its effect on listeners, identifying Brechtian alienating-effects in conceptual progressive music, and making conclusions about how those alienating-effects set up a musical revolution moving away from modern popular music. The conceptual progressive albums I chose to focus on are Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Porcupine Tree’s In Absentia, Fear of a Blank Planet, and The Incident.
That’s the simplified version. I’ll post my proposal today, as it does a much better job of laying out my thesis. Over the next few months I want to use this WordPress account to lay out ideas and concepts, analyze music, and synthesize conversation between theorists. If people are interested and want to follow my progress, awesome. I can’t wait to hear feedback and answer any questions.
themanwhois 