Synopses & Reviews
Queer Voices sets out both to queer the musicological and to make queer audible, arguing that the voice, particularly the singing voice, opens up a richly queer space. Using case studies from different repertoires, the book demonstrates how queer emerges particularly audibly when the voice is heard to engage with various technologies: the external technologies of music performances and recordings, technologies of power, or the internal technologies of vocal production itself.
Review
“Freya Jarman-Ivens is one of the most insightful scholars writing on vocality, especially as it relates to matters of sexuality and sexual identity. Although she makes skillful use of theory when and where it counts, it is clear that her primary desire is to communicate ideas, and this she does in engaging style. Anyone who has been terrified by Diamanda Galás, or responded with a somatic thrill to the voice of Maria Callas or Karen Carpenter, will find this book difficult to put down.”--Derek B. Scott, author of From the Erotic to the Demonic and Sounds of the Metropolis
Synopsis
This book argues that there are some important implications of the role the voice plays in popular music when thinking about processes of identification. The central thesis is that the voice in popular music is potentially uncanny (Freud's unheimlich), and that this may invite or guard against identification by the listener.
About the Author
Freya Jarman-Ivens is a Lecturer in Music at the University of Liverpool, U.K.
Table of Contents
Identification * Karen Carpenter * Maria Callas * Diamanda Galas * Coda