Re: Word culture
RBFST1 who-is-at vms.cis.pitt.edu
Thu, 19 Oct 1995 10:54:13 -0400 (EDT)
Ana,
Depending upon one's knowledge base, one can approach music very
analytically, shorn of emotion. You can begin to break a piece down to
its constituent parts: key signature, dynamics, chord structure, and so
forth. Approaching it this way certainly keeps it on an abstract level.
The same may be applied to language. If all one does is break prose
passages down to morphemes and phonemes, the passage's potential to
evoke emotion is lessened. Unless, of course, breaking passages down to
their constituent parts is an emotional experience for someone. It's
the coming together of all of these elements to make a whole that provides
the setting to move to an emotional level. Music, too, is a language. A
language not as accessible to everyone, but a language nonetheless.
Interestingly, one does not need to know the language of music to be
moved, to experience its emotional qualities. However, one must know
the language to be moved by Joyce or Auden.
Robert Faux
Department of Psychology in Education
University of Pittsburgh
rbfst1 who-is-at vms.cis.pitt.edu