Riassunto di Musical Autobiographies

Musical Autobiographies

Kommentar	Despite recent critical and theoretical interest in life writing and its intermedial extensions beyond the written text, the life stories of musicians have remained an understudied segment of American autobiography. In this course, we will seek innovative ways to study jazz singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong's lengthy interview with Richard Meryman (1965), country singer Loretta Lynn’s Coal Miner’s Daughter (1976), alternative singer and guitarist (The Eels) Mark Oliver Everett's Things the Grandchildren Should Know (2008), rapper Eminem’s The Way I Am (2008), hip hop drummer (The Roots) Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove (2013), and singer-bass player (Sonic Youth) Kim Gordon’s Girl in a Band (2015) as representative examples of musical autobiography. Please note that this will be a reading-intensive course.
Literatur	You must purchase or copy/scan the following autobiographies: Loretta Lynn, with George Vecsey. Coal Miner’s Daughter, 1976. (available in various editions; ca. 15-20 Euros). Mark Oliver Everett. Things the Grandchildren Should Know. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008. (ca. 12 Euros). Eminem. The Way I Am. New York: Dutton, 2008. (ca. 16,50 Euros) Gordon, Kim. Girl in a Band. New York: HarperCollins, 2015. (ca. 20 Euros) NB: You might find cheaper used copies of these autobiographies in a number online bookstores. One copy of each texts will be available in the “Semesterapparat” for this course. All other reading material will be available on the moodle site for this course.
Bemerkung	To attend this course, you must register online. You must be present in the first session in order to secure a place in the course.

Kommentar

Despite recent critical and theoretical interest in life writing and its intermedial extensions beyond the written text, the life stories of musicians have remained an understudied segment of American autobiography. In this course, we will seek innovative ways to study jazz singer and trumpeter Louis Armstrong's lengthy interview with Richard Meryman (1965), country singer Loretta Lynn’s Coal Miner’s Daughter (1976), alternative singer and guitarist (The Eels) Mark Oliver Everett's Things the Grandchildren Should Know (2008), rapper Eminem’s The Way I Am (2008), hip hop drummer (The Roots) Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Mo’ Meta Blues: The World According to Questlove (2013), and singer-bass player (Sonic Youth) Kim Gordon’s Girl in a Band (2015) as representative examples of musical autobiography. Please note that this will be a reading-intensive course.

Literatur

You must purchase or copy/scan the following autobiographies:

Loretta Lynn, with George Vecsey. Coal Miner’s Daughter, 1976. (available in various editions; ca. 15-20 Euros).

Mark Oliver Everett. Things the Grandchildren Should Know. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2008. (ca. 12 Euros).

Eminem. The Way I Am. New York: Dutton, 2008. (ca. 16,50 Euros)

Gordon, Kim. Girl in a Band. New York: HarperCollins, 2015. (ca. 20 Euros)

NB: You might find cheaper used copies of these autobiographies in a number online bookstores. One copy of each texts will be available in the “Semesterapparat” for this course. All other reading material will be available on the moodle site for this course.

Bemerkung

To attend this course, you must register online. You must be present in the first session in order to secure a place in the course.

Dozent/in: Daniel Stein