Category: McCoy Fall 2014

As I was flipping back to find a particular page from Interdisciplinarity, one quote from a different page caught my eye, and honestly, made me mad.  As stated by Graham Hough, “I do not believe that anyone should have their higher education in literature alone.  What is disgustingly called “English” in universities should never have grown into a separate and isolated ‘subject’ as it has.  It needs to be closely integrated with the study of other languages, with history and the history of ideas.” (Moran, 42).

Why did this make me so mad?  Because it was a complete slam to my major!  Hough referred to the major as “disgusting” and it irked me.  Why did English get such a bad rap?  What if going pre-med had this bad of a reputation?  Could we go without doctors in our lives?  No! So why is it okay to give a negative connotation to English?  The world may never know, but I would love to find out why.

In chapter three, Moran discusses the notion of ‘theory’ as it relates to interdisciplinarity. He describes ‘theory’ as being “concerned with big questions about the nature of reality, language, power, gender, sexuality, the body and the self” (75). He goes on to explain how theory provides a framework for people to engage within. After reading this I started to think about music theory prior to the 20th century. 18th-century voice leading is a set of rules in which harmonic progressions must take place. Pitches must move up or down by a specific interval depending on the context of the harmony. For example, one rule prohibits the use of parallel fifths. This occurs when two pitches that are seven semitones away from each other move together by the same interval. This is discouraged because of the hollow sound the fifths create. It is more desirable to move to a non-perfect interval such as a third or a sixth. While this definitely provides a framework for musicians to work within, it seems arbitrary. These strict rules are subjective opinions that have been formed over a long period of time. I will make the jump to say that every time a new rule was added to the practice of voice leading someone had to have made a decision based on their individual opinion of what sounds good. These rules aren’t concerned with the big questions that Moran describes. It’s mysterious to me why musicians followed these rules in the first place since they don’t come from anything other than subjective opinions about what “sounds right.”

Some contemporary art music is composed algorithmically, meaning a composer will follow rules that they have devised themselves in order to make artistic decisions. For example, some composers use the overtone series of a given pitch to make decisions about harmony and melody. I’m not really sure how, but some composers even use computer programing languages to provide them with rhythm and pitch material. Since these styles of music composition are more concerned with the nature of sound itself I think that they better fit Moran’s definition of theory. This may be controversial, but I think that newer methods of creating music better fit Moran’s definition of theory.

In this day and age, there are many social issues such as feminism, like abortion and same-sex marriage, that we as a society are becoming accustomed to hearing in the news. Feminism, however, has been one plaguing the human race throughout history. It dates back to gender roles and responsibilities in ancient times. Unfortunately, women are still fighting for complete and equal rights to those of the male sex.

In Joe Moran’s Interdisciplinarity, it is said that “the experience of women is devalued or excluded” (92). That is why the Brontë sisters published their works under the names of Ellis, Currer, and Acton Bell, so as not to slight the possibility of success.

The question now, though, is whether or not this statement still relates. While it is known that female athletes are still fighting to make the same salary as male players (for example, in tennis female players make significantly less than male players although the earnings from winning a major is now equal), female workers in arts and entertainment are achieving as much acclaim as men. Take, for example, J.K. Rowling who is now one of the most famed authors of our time; however, she chose to write under a pen name for the same reasons as Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë. Her identity was revealed, though, and she experiences continued success with her novels and the Harry Potter franchise. Society is changing.

As a woman in the modern world, I am more confident than my predecessors may have been. Philosopher Julia Kristeva stated that “women are defined by their bodies…in ways that men are not” (96). In some ways this is still relevant, as there are still those that argue against the feminist theory –that a woman’s role is not interdisciplinary, that she should remain in the home with the family. However, as a species we now have means of controlling the functions of our bodies. Women have as much power over themselves and their bodies as men do. As a result, women can attend and pursue schooling without struggle, excel in their careers and climb to the top of the social ladder, and earn respect and acclaim as much as those of the male sex. I am not concerned about my future success as a writer and woman in society because of the advances in the direction toward equality. As a society, we are headed in the right direction. Continue reading “Feminism in “Interdisciplinarity””