Home
Bergen Network for Women in Philosophy
Philosophy and music

How to Do More with Words. Two Views of (Musical) Ekphrasis

In this reading seminar prof. Goehr will discuss her paper "How to Do More with Words. Two Views of (Musical) Ekphrasis" and respond to questions.

Diagram over Musical ekphrasis
Illustration photo
Photo:
Siglind Bruhn

Main content

In connection with Professor  Lydia Goehr's upcoming visit to Bergen, the Bergen Network for Women in Philosophy will hold a reading seminar with Professor Goehr's on her article, "How to Do More with Words. Two Views of (Musical) Ekphrasis" (2010). The paper can be downloaded as a pdf-file (link at the bottom of this page).

In the introduction to the article, Goehr says: “This essay is about ekphrasis and the possibility of musical ekphrasis in particular. Com­monly conceived, ekphrasis produces images for the mind’s eye by means of words whereas music communicates by neither word nor image. Hence, music and ekphrasis do not nat­urally join hands. To join them, one must either discard their common conceptions or, much better, revise and expand them.” The article addresses the relationship between language and images in music, and, more broadly, the connections between different art forms and their respective media. The article touches on themes Goehr will discuss in her guest lecture.

Since this is a reading seminar participants are asked to read the paper in preparation for the seminar (pdf attached).