Popular Music and Gender Studies

Popular Music Studies examines various concepts of popular music, which are not always consistent. From Afrobeat(s) to bossa nova, hardcore punk, hip hop, jazz, pop, soul, and much more, music that belongs neither to classical Western art music nor to so-called traditional music is classified in academic discourse under the meta-genre “popular music.” At the same time, any music that attracts widespread attention can be considered popular. Because we adopt a broad definition of “popular,” we examine mainstream pop just as much as we do metal or Schlager. And because we examine popular music in its global dimensions, our research includes, among other things, West African highlife.

Popular music is socially relevant in many ways. This has to do with the significant attention accorded to the popular, but also with sociopolitical aspects that are negotiated within and through music. Popular music, in particular, challenges us to engage with social negotiation processes surrounding issues such as migration, sustainability, and social inequality. Our focus in the field of gender studies involves examining discourses about and performative representations of gender identities in the context of music. We examine the category of gender in its intersectional relations to other categories of difference, such as “class” or “race,” as well as in terms of its sociocultural significance in diverse societies and its historical context.

While rooted in musicology, our work is interdisciplinary in nature, particularly through our involvement in the cross-disciplinary fields of Popular Music Studies and Gender Studies, as well as through collaborative research within the SFB 1472 “Transformations of the Popular.” Our broad methodological spectrum encompasses cultural-historical and ethnomusicological approaches, discourse analysis, analyses of media, intermediality, and performances—with a special focus on sound—as well as approaches from the Environmental Humanities and qualitative social research. For us, research is a collaborative process that benefits from networking with other disciplines, locations, and international partnerships, including through our involvement with Gestu_S and our collaboration with the Music Department at the University of Ghana.

In our teaching, in addition to established discourse-based course formats, we offer various workshop formats that combine theoretical-reflective and artistic-practical elements. Our courses are open to students in all music teacher education programs, to students in the B.A. in Social Work and the M.A. in Educational Science who focus on cultural education, as well as to anyone wishing to earn the “Gender Studies” certificate. Through the Popular Music Research Forum, we collaborate with faculty, staff, and students from the University of Wuppertal and the Cologne University of Music and Dance to create a space that supports thesis work and fosters academic networking.