Call for papers - Contemporary Music Review (Routledge)

To all Rhizomers and Rhizomists.
I hope this call will be of interest to a lot of you.
Get thinking!



Call for papers:
The body/technology-instrument/technology paradigm.

We invite papers from writers reflecting on sound in relation to the body/technology; from anyone who attempts to define and/or critically examine threshold conditions of instrument and performer; writers who are keen to challenge con- or discontinuities of instrument and performer, be it in the form of laptop improvisation, interactive sound environments, 3d cave installations, sonic architecture, or other performance situations.

In an era in which technology has impacted immensely on ways in which instrumental music is being performed, indeed in which the role of the instrument, if not notions of the instrument itself, have become radically altered, we want to examine the instrument’s position as well as the role of the performer.

The body/technology - instrument/technology coupling or decoupling is something that can be, and needs to be explored from various angles. Such discussion invariably leads us to think about what we consider an instrument to be in technologically mediated environments, in particular if we keep in mind that the word’s origin suggests notions of “instruction” (from Latin: instruere): who instructs or who/what is instructed by whom?

•Do we see the instrument as extension, retraction or subversion of the body?
•Is the instrument one that brings the body into existence, or one that denies bodily existence?
•What are the implications of technological environments on the instrument-performer relation?
•Does the body become re-figured and re-inscribed by technology?
These are only a few of the questions that may arise; other exploratory paths that elucidate aspects of the body/technology-instrument/technology paradigms are highly encouraged.

For this discussion papers may rejoice in the liminal, the erotic, or the incestuous, they may celebrate touch, if not the self-touch, and may move beyond notions of the instrument as extension of the body in performance.

Papers from disciplines as varied as music, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, biology, informatics or architecture will be of interest.


Abstracts of around 300 words should be sent to the guest editor by the 31st of July 2005.
Full papers will be due at the end of September 2005.

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Please note:
Papers are accepted only in English.

Submission of a paper to this journal will be taken to imply that it represents original work not previously published, that it is not being considered elsewhere for publication, and that if accepted for publication it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in any language, without the consent of the editors and publishers.


All queries should be directed to:

Franziska Schroeder
Guest Editor
Contemporary Music Review:
Email: [email protected]