Authorship, gender and the construction of meaning in the Eurythmics' hit recordings

Bibliographic Data

ID7739619
AuthorsRichard Middleton (corresponding author)
Year1995
Volume9
Issue3
Pages465-485
Publication date1995-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCultural Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-2386 • E-ISSN: 1466-4348
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09502389500490521
OpenAlexW2065272955
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited19

Pop songs are often interpreted, by fans, critics and even academic analysts, in relation to traditional notions of ‘authorship’. But in recent pop, such as the Eurythmics' hits, these notions are at the very least in tension with a more fragmented construction of subjectivity. This article seeks to develop a method for analysing such constructions, both generally and in specific Eurythmics songs. The method draws on Mikhail Bakhtin's dialogic theory of subjectivity and meaning, presenting the various parts of songs (i.e., both textural lines and structural sections) as interactive ‘voices’, each with its characteristic style-features. Such features are always culturally marked, through their multiple associations and their different positionings within various discursive domains. It is possible, therefore, to locate the styles, their features and their interrelations on a range of discursive axes (gender, ethnicity, etc.), making up a ‘map’ of the musico-discursive terrain, then to place the ‘dialogue’ constructed in a specific song in relation to these axes, this map. For the Eurythmics, the gender axis is the most (though not the only) important one. It functions through the differential positioning of constituent styles (pop, blues, soul, disco, ballad, etc.) on this axis; in relation to other axes of meaning; through articulation in the specific socio-historical context of 1980s British pop; and via interaction with visual images (e.g., on accompanying videos). After an analysis of eight songs, the article concludes with some implications of the method for the interpretation of gender — and more generally of the construction of subjectivity — in music. Keywords: popular songEurythmicsgenderdialogics An earlier version of this article was presented to the annual conference of the Royal Musical Association at Southampton University, March 1993. An earlier version of this article was presented to the annual conference of the Royal Musical Association at Southampton University, March 1993. Notes An earlier version of this article was presented to the annual conference of the Royal Musical Association at Southampton University, March 1993

Aesthetics · Art · Articulation (sociology · Context (archaeology · Dialogic · Epistemology · Interpretation (philosophy · Linguistics · Literature · Meaning (existential · Relation (database · Sociology · Style (visual arts · Subjectivity · Computer Science · History · Music History and Culture · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Philosophy · Poetry Analysis and Criticism

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