The anxiety of blowing

Experiences of breath and brass instruments in Benin

Bibliographic Data

ID2103442
AuthorsLyndsey Copeland (0000-0002-2384-1545, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume89
Issue2
Pages353-377
Publication date2019-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrica (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0001-9720 • E-ISSN: 1750-0184
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0001972019000123
OpenAlexW2945569158
LanguageEN
References cited45

Within amateur musical circles in Benin, one is told that if a male blows too hard into a brass instrument his testicles might swell up, fall off, or even run away. Concerned parents warn their children against 'blowing' brass instruments, telling stories of inguinal hernias and infertility, and many maintain that male brass players must take preventative measures. Accompanying this unease about blowing out is a complementary concern with breathing in, and the possible inhalation of micro-organisms or poison through the mouth. Engaging with this anxiety of blowing, this article takes seriously my interlocutors' concern with the consequences of playing brass instruments on their bodies. My main argument is that understandings of the precarious nature of breath are at the core of musicians' experiences of anxiety. My exploration of the relation between breath, anxiety and the body supports a common phenomenology of breathing across cultures, and serves to advance breath as an important site of meaning making

Aesthetics · Amateur · Anxiety · Art · Brass · Epistemology · Metallurgy · Phenomenology (philosophy · Political science · Psychiatry · Diverse Musicological Studies · Law · Music History and Culture · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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