[Xmca-l] Re: Inner thought in theater pieces

[Daniel Hyman]

Many thanks to both Ulvi and Peter for the points about internal speech,
its role in drama, and Fernyhough's work from last year. As I'm a musician,
they bring to mind (hopefully) related questions (apparently glanced at in
The Voices Within) which I'd be grateful to know more about, in the
contexts of psychology or neurobiology:

- Musicians use the term "inner ear" (though "inner voice" might be more
specific) to denote the faculty of being able to subjectively "hear"
melody, song, chant/rap (rhythmic words without melody), (groups of)
instruments and the like, untethered to physical sound. The most extreme
cases concern composers such as Beethoven, Smetana, and Fauré who lost
their hearing in adulthood. But anyone who can read a score, practice
toward matching a concrete tonal image, recall a concert, audiate what they
are about to play or sing, or receive new musical ideas, does this. Need
one only be a trained musician, or are there other paths to this ability?

- Some "inner ear" experiences are paired with words, others with events
(e.g., birdcalls, thunderstorms, night sounds of nature, the quickened
pulse of desire, galloping horses' hooves), some with waves of feelings
that might fit words (or not), some are simply music. How are these alike,
and different?

- Some pairings of words and music are socially organized (Mozart and da
Ponte, Rodgers and Hammerstein, George and Ira Gershwin), others internal
to one person (Wagner, Mahler). How are these alike and different? How does
parody (the type where new words are fitted to an old tune) relate to a
live composer setting words from a past poet?

- Tinnitus (ringing in the ears after hearing loss) is now suggested to be
the effect of the brain filling in tones it "thinks" are happening but not
heard. Is this purely physical, or can experience, training, reflection, or
other factors alter it?

I guess the common thread is, what do psychology and neurobiology offer (or
promise) to help us understand these types of musical experience, ability,
and disability? Thanks in advance to anyone moved to chime in, or recommend
readings.

Daniel

On Wed, Jul 12, 2017 at 10:50 AM, Ulvi İçil <ulvi.icil@gmail.com> wrote:

> Thank you Peter.
>
> Ulvi
>
> 12 Tem 2017 17:38 tarihinde "Peter Feigenbaum [Staff]" <
> pfeigenbaum@fordham.edu> yazdı:
>
> > Ulvi,
> >
> > Your questions about the science of inner speech monologue and its use in
> > the analysis of theatrical material - to convey the internal richness of
> > ​the ​
> > emotion
> > ​
> > and thought
> > ​​
> > ​of
> >  characters
> > ​ - are tangentially addressed by Charles Fernyhough
> > in his recent book The Voices Within. Charles is a colleague who works
> with
> > Vygotsky's
> > theory of private and inner speech development, but who specializes in
> > the dialogicality of inner speech and its role in people who hear voices
> -
> > both normal
> > and hallucinatory. While he doesn't directly address the issue of
> > theatrical characters,
> > he does provide insights - based on evidence and research - into the
> > creative
> > writing process of novelists, and the various roles that inner voices
> play
> > in their
> > work and thought.
> >
> > I highly recommend this book because of the admirable way in which
> > Fernyhough
> > manages to navigate highly complicated issues concerning a phenomenon
> that
> > is largely elusive - even though it constitutes the highest stage in the
> > development
> > of verbal thinking. As a less courageous researcher, I chose to study
> > private speech
> > because the data are empirical and tangible, subject to linguistic and
> > sociolinguistic
> > analysis.
> >
> > https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Within-History-Science-
> > Ourselves/dp/0465096808
> >
> > Peter
> >
> >
> >
> > On Tue, Jul 11, 2017 at 2:36 PM, Ulvi İçil <ulvi.icil@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Nazim Hikmet uses widely inner  thought and momologue in a work to
> convey
> > > the internal richness of emotion and thought of his characters.
> > Especially
> > > inner thought.
> > >
> > > The name of the work is Ferhad and Sirin, and another name is Legend of
> > > love.
> > >
> > > Anyone can see the very interesting content of the work, characters in
> a
> > > struggle in a triangle of love.
> > >
> > >
> > > It is a quite successful work, played by Bolshoi.
> > >
> > > My questions are:
> > >
> > > Does the science of psychology make wide use of such theater work? i.e.
> > in
> > > terms of the inner thought.
> > >
> > > Does the science of pscyhology make use of such theater work in terms
> of
> > > human development? i.e. in terms of the "defects" human beings possess.
> > >
> > > Ulvi
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Peter Feigenbaum, Ph.D.
> > Director,
> > Office of Institutional Research
> > <https://www.fordham.edu/info/24303/institutional_research>
> > Fordham University
> > Thebaud Hall-202
> > Bronx, NY 10458
> >
> > Phone: (718) 817-2243
> > Fax: (718) 817-3817
> > email: pfeigenbaum@fordham.edu
> >
>