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On political audiences: an argument in favour of preaching to the choir

On political audiences: an argument in favour of preaching to the choir
On political audiences: an argument in favour of preaching to the choir
A critique of politically engaged art is that gallery-dwellers, concert-goers and theatre-lovers share the same political inclination as the artists. Often known as ‘preaching to the choir’, the critique holds that art’s power to challenge and persuade is rendered value- less when it is experienced only by people who already hold the same (typically leftist) ideas. In this article I suggest three distinct yet interconnected responses to this critique: namely, ‘expanding’, ‘galvanising’ and ‘activating’ the choir. In the first part I explore ‘expanding’ and ‘galvanising’ through works by Stefan Prins, Sarah Nicolls, Pamela Z and Soosan Lolavar. In the second half I discuss how I ‘activate’ the choir in my own work.
music, Activism, contemporary aesthetics
0040-2982
57-70
Agnon, Uri
10d2ac3f-e8e9-4367-8e8a-51f812a6b82c
Agnon, Uri
10d2ac3f-e8e9-4367-8e8a-51f812a6b82c

Agnon, Uri (2021) On political audiences: an argument in favour of preaching to the choir. Tempo, 75 (296), 57-70. (doi:10.1017/S0040298220000959).

Record type: Article

Abstract

A critique of politically engaged art is that gallery-dwellers, concert-goers and theatre-lovers share the same political inclination as the artists. Often known as ‘preaching to the choir’, the critique holds that art’s power to challenge and persuade is rendered value- less when it is experienced only by people who already hold the same (typically leftist) ideas. In this article I suggest three distinct yet interconnected responses to this critique: namely, ‘expanding’, ‘galvanising’ and ‘activating’ the choir. In the first part I explore ‘expanding’ and ‘galvanising’ through works by Stefan Prins, Sarah Nicolls, Pamela Z and Soosan Lolavar. In the second half I discuss how I ‘activate’ the choir in my own work.

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More information

Published date: April 2021
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
Keywords: music, Activism, contemporary aesthetics

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 452617
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/452617
ISSN: 0040-2982
PURE UUID: ce200e68-310e-4eeb-982c-e63a6586d531

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 11 Dec 2021 11:29
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 14:37

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