Music & Utopia

Anthony Burr

Syllabus: CAT3_SP13_Burr_Syllabus.pdf

   One of the first intentional blueprints for an ideal society, Plato's "Republic" famously banned music. In the history of utopian projects, it seems that music has been often either excluded completely or placed at the center of the project. In looking at some example utopias from history, philosophy and science fiction we'll consider both the pragmatic decisions involved in creating a new society (laws, language, citizenship) alongside the potential transformations of subjectivity (new modes of social interaction, more perfect integrations of nature & culture etc). Music is often distrusted for its ability to destabilize the order of the law, but just as often it is valorized as a mode of engagement that models a more perfect relation between people (as in still ubiquitous claims for music as a "universal language").
  

 Alongside a consideration of the role and status of music within famous utopian texts, we will also look at the way utopian visions have been conjured through music in a number of contexts (reggae, the folk revival, disco and new age music). Students will work in groups to come up with their own plans for a new society and its music.

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