Give me myself again': Sexual violence narratives in popular music.

This thesis explores the relationships between popular music and experiences of sexual violence. It is situated at the intersection of trauma theory and cultural studies. Though a great deal of feminist work has been done on representations of sexual violence in the media, these reflections have either ignored music as a medium, or focused on it only in terms of misogynistic lyrics in rap and hip-hop. Similarly, contemporary trauma theory has addressed rape narratives in literature with regard to how these have interacted with lived experiences, but has not looked at these possibilities within music. There are two distinct ways in which this thesis approaches the topic: narrative analysis of the songs themselves, and survey work done with the audience of one particular iconic artist in this area, Tori Amos. The first chapter of analysis focuses on songs narrating experiences of domestic violence, and situates these within a wider feminist context of activism and social awareness. The second narrative analysis chapter examines songs concerned with sexual violence, and seeks to explore whether or not the diversity of experience narratives lacking in other popular media can be found in music. The two remaining substantive chapters in the thesis utilise audience research in order to explore issues of authenticity, understanding and healing. In examining the multiple audience responses to Tori Amos' part-fictionalised, yet autobiographical, rape narrative, 'Me and a Gun', a picture emerges of authenticity as a far more complex notion to listeners (and other receivers of art) than more widespread media representations seem to suggest. Finally, in examining the narratives of Amos' listeners, with regard to their own experiences, it becomes clear that Amos' music, Amos herself, and Internet communities built up around Amos, are vital sources of support for those who have been traumatised by sexual violence

Sheila, Take a Bow

Professor Sheila Whiteley passed away on 6th of June, 2015. Sheila’s ground-breaking achievements in popular culture and gender studies, alongside her bright personal triumphs are celebrated by numerous obituaries from national and international media. Here, we present the tributes of Sheila’s students, colleagues and friends.Sheila Whiteley nous a quittés le 6 juin 2015. Ses recherches pionnières sur la culture populaire et le genre, en plus de ses grands succès personnels, furent célébrés dans de nombreux médias internationaux. Nous vous présentons ici une série d’hommages de ses étudiants, collègues et amis

Special Beatles studies

Près d'un demi-siècle après l'adoubement des Beatles par Luciano Berio, ce numéro de Volume ! propose un tour d’horizon de la recherche scientifique sur le groupe dont John Lennon affirmait qu'il était encore « plus populaire que Jésus ». Outre une imposante bibliographie couvrant les 50 premières années de ce qu’il est désormais convenu d’appeler les « Beatles Studies », on y découvrira entre autres que la British Invasion est passée par Paris, que les popular music studies ont débuté par l'étude musicologique des musiques populaires, que la théorie des vecteurs harmoniques peut s’appliquer à la musique pop ou encore que l’album Abbey Road mérite d’être analysé à la lumière des concepts développés par Marshall McLuhan. Nearly half a century after Luciano Berio praised the Beatles in his “Commenti al Rock” (1967), this special issue of Volume! surveys the research carried out on the band that was, according to John Lennon, “more popular than Jesus”. In light of an impressive bibliography covering the first 50 years of what we now call “Beatles Studies”, one learns, for example, that the British Invasion originated in Paris, that Popular Music Studies began with the musicological study of popular music, that the theory of harmonic vectors can help analyze pop music or that Marshall McLuhan's concepts shed an interesting light on albums such as Abbey Road