Loading...
Blurred Lines: Exploring Poetic and Musical Subjectivity in Verlaine and Debussy's "Romances sans paroles"
Eyestone, Emily
Eyestone, Emily
Abstract
This thesis examines the expression of subjectivity in poetry and music, through a comparison of nineteenth century French poet Paul Verlaine's poems in his collection Romances sans paroles with the musical settings of these poems by the composer, Claude Debussy. Using artistic subjectivity as the point of departure, I attempt to account for the ways in which these art forms may approximate or suggest similar ideas, despite their materially-different modes of expression. Each of the four chapters in this analysis focus on a comparison between one of Verlaine's and its accompanying musical transcription by Debussy. I engage in a close reading of the poem initially, with attention paid to linguistic communication of meaning and then turn to the musical score, and through an analysis of musical theory practices in Debussy's pieces, attempt to show potential sites of expressive correspondence between music and poetry. I use a discursive model of relationship, rather than equivalency. Such an approach places poem and composition in a sort of dialog that is itself productive of meaning that is emergent from their association. The discursive method of analysis acknowledges and respects formal differences between language and music in a way that allows for an informed yet fruitful comparison.
Description
Date
2014-04-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Collections
Download Dataset
Rights Holder
Usage License
Embargo
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Citation
Department
Interdisciplinary Studies