The affective turn in ethnomusicology

Abstract

The affective turn, which has already questioned dominant paradigms in many disciplinary fields including cultural studies, philosophy, political theory, anthropology, psychology and neuroscience, has started to attract more attention in the field of ethnomusicology, becoming a particularly vibrant stream of thought. Drawing on the voices that call for the historicisation of and critical deliberation on the field of affect studies, the article strives to show how theories of affect might expand dominant paradigms in ethnomusicology and also points to their limitations.

Keywords

• affective turn
• ethnomusicology
• sonic affect
• musical emotions
• affect-emotion relationship