About this episode

Julie Carr interviews scholar and poet Ben Meyerson about the concept of 'voice' in diasporic song and its cultural implications.

In episode #37 I talk with scholar and poet Ben Meyerson about his research and writing surrounding “voice” in diasporic song. Ben researches three musical forms: Troubadour lyric, Sephardic Romanzas, and Flamenco song, all of which originate from the Iberian Peninsula, dating from the 11th century to the present. Ben addresses some of the problems in theories of “voice” from thinkers such as Deleuze and Adriana Cavarero, who, he argues, in seeking to universalize “voice” risk losing track of individual, historical, cultural and physical voices . Ben’s interest lies in the complex ways that the singing voice can both protest particular historical losses and draw listeners into its community. We discuss and read from an essay we both deeply revere, Nathaniel Mackey’s “Sound and Sentiment, Sound and Symbol” and we talk about Édouard Glissant’s Poetics of Relation as articulating how voice/voices can both be “in relation” while also maintaining “rootedness.” Finally, Ben reads one of his own poems and speaks about how his research is connected to his Jewish identity. In this poetics-enthusiast’s episode, we also touch on Kristeva, Doug Kearney, Lorca, and Moten. A special treat: we…

People in this episode

Host: Julie Carr

Guest: Ben Meyerson

Topics covered

• voice
• diasporic song
• musical forms
• cultural identity
• historical loss
• poetics

Keywords

• voice
• diaspora
• music
• identity
• poetry
• historical loss
• Sephardic
• Flamenco
• community

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: For More Than One Voice: Toward a Philosophy, Sound and Sentiment, Sound and Symbol

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