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Popular Music & Gender in a Transcultural Context (completed)

This project focused on how gender is significantly influenced by music, with specific emphasis placed upon the transcultural aspects of popular music in contemporary societies.

Documentary with key findings

By Camilla Smaadal

About the project

The project was the first of its kind in Europe to focus primarily on music as a gendered activity within a mobile transcultural context.

It sought to critically examine a range of case studies from Norwegian everyday musical life as well as other countries within and outside Europe.

The project considersed the audiovisual representation of music as a dominant facet of cultural expression through the channels of art, television, commercials, Internet, music videos and digital games.

Popular Music & Gender in a Transcultural Context was an interdisciplinary project and involved linking a musicological inquiry to the border disciplines of sociology, media studies, gender studies and social anthropology.

Objectives

Three main goals underpinned the project:

  • To develop theories that identify gendered performance within a transcultural context
  • To research into and devise methods for defining different forms of performance activity with a specific focus on Norwegian artists
  • To produce new insights into issues of gender equality that are critically informed what is going on in globalised popular culture.

Financing

Popular Music & Gender in a Transcultural Context was jointly funded by The Research Council of Norway under the program FRIHUM, and the University of Oslo

International Affiliations

The project involved close collaboration with various Nordic universities, especially the University of Turku, Finland.

In addition, the projects network includes the University of Liverpool, University of Brunel, University of Cambridge, Trinity College (Dublin), University of Limerick, University of Leeds, University of Edinburgh, Humboldt University (Berlin), UCLA, and Wits University in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Events

International symposium on popular music and gender

Time and place: June 4, 2013 2:00 PM–6:30 PM, Salen, ZEB-building

Program

  • Opening by Head of Departement Alexander Refsum Jensenius and introduction by Project leader Stan Hawkins
  • Will Straw, Professor of Communications, McGill University Pathways and Patterns: On the National Specificity of Musical Careers
  • Stan Hawkins and Mats Johansson, University of Oslo Music in a Transcultural Space: Inscriptions of Representation through Performance
  • Barbara Bradby, Associate Professor in Sociology, Trinity College Dublin Growing up to be a Rapper: Justin Bieber’s Duet with Ludacris

Open guest lecture with Derek B. Scott

Time and place: 24. mai 2012 17:30–19:00, Salen, ZEB-bygningen

Professor of critical musicology at the University of Leeds, Derek B. Scott, will visit the Departement of Musicology and give a guest lecture. The visit is in connection with the launch of Stan Hawkin's new book Critical Musicological Reflections: Essays in Honour of Derek B. Scott, which has recently been released by Ashgate.

Popular Music Seminar

Time and place: May 22, 2012 1:15 PM–4:00 PM, Auditorium 3, Helga Engs hus

Program

  • Keith Negus:  Popstars, paupers and Pro-Ams: Musicians and money in the digital music economy.
  • Mats Johansson: The Gendered Fiddle: On the relationship between expressive coding and artistic identity in Norwegian folk music.
  • Robert Walser: Rock's Gendered Musical Spaces

Open guest lecture with Philip Tagg

Time and place: Feb. 29, 2012 9:15 AM–12:00 PM, Salen

Philip Tagg discusses ethnic stereotyping in his lecture at IMV. The lecture, titled Scotch Snaps, British 'Blue Notes' and Ethnic Stereotyping in Music, deals with questions of musical structures and ethnic and gender stereotyping. These are also subjects in Tagg's film Scotch Snaps: the big picture.

Nordic Seminar: Popular Music and Gender in a Transcultural Context

Time and place: Oct. 24, 2011 10:00 AM–Oct. 25, 2011 2:00 PM, Auditorium 2, Helga Engs hus, University of Oslo

Program

Monday October 24th
  • Professor Stan Hawkins: Opening address.
  • Professor John Richardson (University of Helsinki, University of Turku): On criticism, reparative aesthetics and metamusicals 
  • Susanna Välimäki (University of Helsinki, University of Turku): The Audiovisual Contstruction of Transgender Identity in “Transamerica”
  • Anna – Elena Pääkkölä (University of Turku): From Unattainable Lady to Government Hooker: Lady Gaga and flexible subjectivity
  • Erik Steinskog (University of Copenhagen): If I Were a Boy: Crotch grabbing and (loss of) control
  • Mats Johansson (University of Oslo): Gender Coding in Music: Concepts and Contradictions
  • Sini Mononen (University of Turku): Kitsch, Gender and Horror
Tuesday October 25th
  • Professor Steven Feld (University of New Mexico, professor II University of Oslo): My (Your) Life in the (Local) Bush of (Global) Ghosts
  • Panel debate. Participants: Anne Danielsen (University of Oslo), Birgitte Sandve (University of Oslo), Susanna Välimäki and Steven Feld (Chair: Stan Hawkins)

Opening Seminar

Time and place: Mar. 16, 2011 1:00 PM–4:00 PM, The National Library of Norway

Media

Hawkins, Stan. "Popmusikk på utstilling" Ballade.no. 2.21.2014  

Hawkins, Stan. Typisk norsk musikk. Morgenbladet 28.6.2013

Hawkins, Stan. Norsk popmusikk er ikke typisk norsk. Forskning.no 21.6.2013

Paus, Mari. - Justin er 'ekte vare'. Vårt land 13.4.2013

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. «Marion Ravn: grådig. Marit Larsen: dydig» ... men bildet er misvisende, mener musikkforsker VG 5.4.2013

Hawkins, Stan. Selvlysende stjerne. Aftenposten 6.12.2012

Hawkins, Stan. Lady Gaga - Født sånn. NRK Ytring 6.12.2012

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Sangskatter fra radiodagene. Morgenbladet 13.07.2012

Sandve, Birgitte. Norske rapartister på Øyafestivalen, status norsk rap 2012. Radio interview. Kulturhuset NRK P2 13.08.2012

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Hjertet er en ensom jeger. Morgenbladet 25.05.2012

Hawkins, Stan. Sangen slåss mot Breivik VG, 15.05.2012

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Surfer videre. Morgenbladet 27.04.2012

Johansson, Mats. Her kommer guttemusikken - igjen. Interview. Aftenposten 21.04.2012

Danielsen, Anne; Hawkins, Stan and Ståle Wikshåland. 
En musikkutdannelse uten musikk. Aftenposten, 10.04.2012

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Sanger fra øverste etasje. Morgenbladet 30.03.2012

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Med maske på dansegulvet. Morgenbladet 23.03.2012

Hawkins, Stan. Das Prinzip Prince Radio interview. WDR 3 Deutschland Aftershow 10.03.2012

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Omrisset av noe større. Morgenbladet 10.02.2012

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Morgenbladet topp 100 – norgeshistoriens beste plater, stemt frem av musikerne selv. [Bidragsyter] 2011: Falck Forlag.

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Søker ut i verden Morgenbladet, 18.11. 2011

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Gammel musikk i alle aldre Morgenbladet, 11.11.2011

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. En romodyssé Morgenbladet, 14.10.2011

Hawkins, Stan. Fant motivasjon i musikk fra dataspill Dagsavisen, 28.07.2011.

Hawkins, Stan. Her kommer guttemusikken Aftenposten, 26.03.2011

Hawkins, Stan. Forfall av kjønnsrollemønster i folkemusikken? Ballade.no, 18.03.2011

Sandvik, Birgitte. Rapperen i dag: Tøff eller tøffel? Ballade.no, 15.03.2011

Hawkins, Stan. Kjøttbikinier og black metal. Ballade.no, 22.09.2010

Publications

Hawkins, Stan. "'I'll Bring You Down, Down, Down': Lady Gaga's Performance in 'Judas'." In Iddon, Martin and Melanie L. Marshall, eds. Lady Gaga & Popular Music: Performing Gender, Fashion, and Culture. Routledge Studies in Popular Music. New York: Routledge, 2014. 9-26.

Johansson Mats & Ola K. Berge. "Who Owns an Interpretation? Legal and Symbolic Ownership to Nordic Folk Music" Ethnomusicology 58.2 (2014): 30-53.

Johansson, Mats. "The Gendered Fiddle: On the Relationship Between Expressive Coding and Artistic Identity in Norwegian Folk Music." International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music 44.2 (2013): 361-384.

Hawkins, Stan. "Aesthetics and Hyperembodiment in Pop Videos: Rihanna's 'Umbrella.'" The Oxford Handbook of New Audiovisual Aesthetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2013.

Jennex, Craig. "Diva Worship and the Sonic Search for Queer Utopia." Popular Music & Society 36.3 (2013). 343-359.

Sandve, Birgitte. 'Rap og iscenesetjing av maskulinitet' in I dreamt I was a Real Boy. Rockheim/Museumsforlaget AS. Trondheim 2013.

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. 'Det vi ser og det vi ikke ser: Nærhet og avstand hos Marit Larsen og Marion Ravn. I dreamt I was a Real Boy. Rockheim/Museumsforlaget AS. Trondheim 2013.

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. 'Det vi ser og det vi ikke ser: Nærhet og avstand hos Marit Larsen og Marion Ravn. I dreamt I was a Real Boy. Rockheim/Museumsforlaget AS. Trondheim 2013.

Hawkins, Stan. You Rocked Our World, Michael: Your Moves, Your Look, Your Music, Everything! in Popular Music and Society. Vol. 32-2 2012, p. 145-149

Hawkins, Stan (ed.). Critical Musicological Reflections: Essays in Honor of Derek B. Scott. Ashgate 2012 ISBN 978-1-4094-2560-1

Hawkins, Stan. Olwage, Grant (ed.) (2008). Composing Apartheid: Music For and Against Apartheid. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. [Review] In: Journal of the Musical Arts in Africa. Vol. 8 2011, pp. 117-120

Hawkins, Stan & Niblock, Sarah. Prince: The Making of a Pop Music Phenomenon. Ashgate 2011 ISBN 978-0-7546-6876-3.

Hawkins, Stan. Pop Music and Easy Listening: The Library of Essays on Popular Music. Ashgate 2011 ISBN 9780754629528.

Hawkins, Stan; Richardson, John. 'Remodeling Britney Spears: Matters of Intoxication and Mediation'. In: Pop Music and Easy Listening: The Library of Essays on Popular Music. Ashgate 2011 ISBN 9780754629528.

Hawkins, Stan. The British Pop Dandy: Masculinity, Popular Music and Culture. Ashgate 2009 ISBN 978-0-7546-5858-0.

Hawkins, Stan. 'Chelsea Rodgers' was a model - Vocality in Prince of the Twenty-first Century. In: The Ashgate Research Companion to Popular Musicology. Ashgate 2009 ISBN 9780754664765.

Hawkins, Stan.'Temporal Turntables: On Temporality and Corporeality in Dance Music'. In: Musicological Identities: Essays in Honour of Susan McClary. Ashgate 2008 ISBN 9780754663027.

Hawkins, Stan. 'Aphex Twin: monstrous hermaphrodites, madness and the strain of independent dance music'. In: Essays on Sound and Vision. Helsinki University Press 2007 ISBN 978-951-570-726-0.

Hawkins, Stan. 'Those Norwegians: Deconstructing the Nation-State in Europe through Fixity and Indifference in Norwegian Club Music'. In: Music, National Identity and the Politics of Location: Between the Global and the Local. Ashgate 2007 ISBN 978-0-7546-4055-4.

Hawkins, Stan. '[Un]Justified: Gestures of Straight-Talk in Justin Timberlake's Songs. In: Oh Boy! Masculinities and Popular Music'. Routledge 2007 ISBN 0415978211.

Hawkins, Stan & Richardson, John. 'Remodeling Britney Spears: Matters of Intoxication and Mediation'. Popular music and society 2007; Volum 30.(5) ISSN 0300-7766.

Hawkins, Stan. 'On Male Queering in Mainstream Pop'. In: Queering the Popular Pitch. Routledge 2006 ISBN 0-415-97805-X.

Hawkins, Stan. 'Dragging out camp: narrative agendas in Madonna's musical production'. In: Madonna's Drowned Worlds: New Approaches to her Cultural Transformations, 1983-2003. Ashgate 2004 ISBN 0-7546-3371-3.

Hawkins, Stan. Music, Space and Place: Popular Music and Cultural Identity. Ashgate 2004 ISBN 0-7546-3737-9.

Hawkins, Stan. Settling the Pop Score: Pop texts and identity politics. Ashgate 2002 ISBN 0-7546-0352-0.

Hawkins, Stan. 'The Pet Shop Boys: Musicology, masculinity, and banality'. Sexing the Groove: popular music and gender 1997 page 118-133. ISBN 978-0415146715.

Hawkins, Stan. 'Prince: Harmonic Analysis of "Anna Stesia"'. Popular Music 1992; Volum 11.(3) ISSN 02611430.

Hegdal, Erlend. Harlem strut. Master thesis. University of Oslo 2006.

Johansson, Mats. Michael Jackson and the expressive power of voice-produced sound in Popular Music and Society. Vol. 35-2 2012, p. 261-279

Johansson, Mats. Review of Solomon, Thomas (ed.): Music and Identity in Norway and Beyond: Essays Commemorating Edvard Grieg the Humanist. in Studio Musicologica Norvegica. Vol. 37 2011

Johansson, Mats. Rhythm into Style: Studying Asymmetrical Grooves in Norwegian Folk Music. PhD thesis. University of Oslo 2010.

Johansson, Mats. 'What is musical meter?'. Musikk og tradisjon 2010 (24) ISSN 1892-0772

Johansson, Mats. 'Nordisk folkmusik som stilkoncept'. Norsk folkemusikklags skrifter 2009 (23) ISSN 0800-3734.

Johansson, Mats. 'Svensk folkmusik som samtidskulturell uttrycksform. En diskussion om stilbegreppets användning och innebörd'. Norsk folkemusikklags skrifter 2003. ISSN 0800-3734.

Johansson, Mats. 'Stil som Retorik och Praxis. En musikantropologisk studie av nutida svensk folkmusik'. Griegakademiet, Institutt for Musikk. University of Bergen 2001.

Paus, Mari. Musical Hybrids and Interculturalism in South African Popular Music. Master thesis. University of Copenhagen 2010.

Sandve, Birgitte. Fragmentering av fellesskapet- ei audiovisuell lesing av Dancer in the Dark. Hovedoppgave. University of Oslo 2007.

Ålvik, Jon Mikkel Broch. Modalities of Desire. Master thesis. University of Oslo 2008.

Published Nov. 1, 2020 9:45 AM - Last modified June 8, 2023 9:27 AM

Contact

Participants

  • Birgitte Sandve Universitetet i Oslo
  • Jon Mikkel Broch Ålvik Universitetet i Oslo
  • Mats Sigvard Johansson Universitetet i Oslo
  • Mari Paus Universitetet i Oslo
  • Kai Arne Hansen
  • Gaute Kjølner Andersen
  • Craig Jennex
Detailed list of participants