Narrative Processing of Music: How Culture Influences Our Perception of Music
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Tushya Mehta, 2nd year |
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Grace Bonnema, 2nd year |
Abstract:
This presentation explores parts of a larger NSF-funded interdisciplinary study conducted at Michigan State (McAuley, TAP Lab; Phillips, DHLC lab), Princeton University (Lisa Margulis), and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Patrick Wong). The study investigated if and when people imagine and/or hear stories when they listen to musical stimuli. One of the experiments had participants from across the US and Dimen, China listen to instrumental music and asked them to give a narrative to their story, if they heard one; a surprising number of people did. Many of the narratives had incredible similarities, such as the same topics, themes, and even specific words. The similarities in participant answers were often startling, and so were the cultural perceptions of different themes, like war. In many narratives, we observed that Western and Chinese listeners have contrasting stories around these themes and also reveal powerfully different moods while writing their narratives. For example, in two excerpts, western listeners wrote narratives that portray wars in the name of remorse (Key words: battle, violence, sadness, fear) while chinese listeners portrayed wars in the name of national pride (Key words: Excitement; Nationalism; victories). As we investigate these moments of cultural alignment and divergence in music inspired stories, we point toward an innovative model for linking specific structures—and time-points—in music to the kinds of stories people hear. Through this presentation, moreover, we aim to provide an understanding of when and why instrumental music yields culture-influenced narrative listening.
