Judaica: An Embodied Laboratory for Song-Action

自20世纪70年代以来，不同领域的学者--包括人类学、社会学、文化研究、哲学，以及最近的认知研究--一直在主张体现和体现实践在知识生产中的中心地位。基于女权主义者和社会学对“客观”研究脱离实体地位的批评，许多学者呼吁采取新的方法，扰乱或推翻假定的理论高于实践的等级制度。戏剧、舞蹈和表演理论家对这些讨论做出了重要贡献，他们展示了诸如歌曲和舞蹈这样的表演形式如何“作为传递社会知识的重要行为发挥作用”(Taylor 2003：2-3)，而文化和宗教研究的学者也同样将武术、瑜伽和其他体育实践分析为“体验性知识”(Farrer和Whalen-Bridge 2011)。该项目将具身知识的概念更进一步，提出在重点实验室环境中的具身实践可以是知识生产和传播的场所，以新技术的形式产生实质性的研究成果。该项目将利用科学知识社会学，特别是实验室研究的子领域，以振兴二十世纪的“戏剧实验室”概念，从而为具身研究开发强有力的方法。定义和评估这种研究的一个关键标准是对要调查的具体化技术领域的准确规范。在这种情况下，研究的核心对象是歌曲-动作技术，这是一种体现歌曲的方法，包括动态的心理物理动作和互动以及声音的音乐性。在录音无处不在的今天，我们习惯于认为歌曲是可以无限复制的音轨。在之前的技术时代，歌曲被理解为谱写的乐谱。这个项目回到了对歌曲作为个人和群体体内培养的有机资源的更初步的理解。它将“歌曲-行动”定义为一种特定类型的歌曲--在这种情况下是犹太人的piyuTim和nigunim--与二十世纪演艺先驱康斯坦丁·斯坦尼斯拉夫斯基和杰兹·格罗托夫斯基所开发的心理物理动作的动态交集。该项目的核心是三名熟练的实践者在工作室实验室进行的为期六个月的全职具体化研究。练习者将在歌曲(自然和延伸的声音和音乐性)和动作(动作、身体文化、心理物理分数)技术方面拥有高级能力，并将共同努力，系统地绘制和探索由选定歌曲的声音结构定义的心理物理动作的实际可能性。作为具体的技术，歌唱不仅仅是节奏、旋律和歌词，即使这些是它的基本基础。个别歌曲，特别是当通过口头传统或录音学习时，还定义了呼吸结构、声音共鸣质量(音色或色彩)以及西方乐谱未能很好地捕捉到的声音的许多其他微妙方面。具身研究的核心阶段将得到戏剧和音乐学研究的支持，国际唱片业协会将保持和扩大与犹太研究和音乐方面的导师的关系。实验室实践将示范与具身实验室研究有关的文件和透明度的最佳做法。它的成果将通过在联合王国、美国和波兰的现场研究报告、结束性跨学科研讨会、原始文件档案集以及探索这一新方法的具体结果和认识论影响的一系列印刷和数字多媒体出版物来分享。

Since the 1970s, scholars in a variety of fields - including anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, and most recently cognitive studies - have argued for the centrality of embodiment and embodied practice in the production of knowledge. Drawing on feminist and sociological critiques of the disembodied status of 'objective' research, many scholars have called for new approaches that trouble or overturn the assumed hierarchy of theory over practice. Theorists of theatre, dance and performance have made important contributions to these discussions by showing how performative forms such as songs and dances can 'function as vital acts of transfer, transmitting social knowledge' (Taylor 2003: 2-3), while scholars in cultural and religious studies have similarly analyzed martial arts, yoga, and other practices of physical culture as modes of 'embodied knowledge' (Farrer and Whalen-Bridge 2011). This project takes the concept of embodied knowledge a step further by proposing that embodied practice in a focused laboratory setting can be a site of knowledge production as well as transmission, leading to substantial research outcomes in the form of new technique.The project will use the sociology of scientific knowledge, and specifically the subfield of laboratory studies, to revitalize the twentieth-century concept of the 'theatre laboratory', leading to the development of a robust methodology for embodied research. A key criterion for defining and assessing such research is the precise specification of the area of embodied technique to be investigated. In this case, the core object of research is the technique of 'song-action', an embodied approach to song that includes dynamic psychophysical action and interaction as well as vocal musicality. In today's world of ubiquitous sound recording, we are used to thinking of songs as audio tracks subject to infinite duplication. The previous technological era understood songs as written scores. This project returns to a more primary understanding of songs as cultivated organic resources within the bodies of individuals and groups. It defines 'song-action' as the dynamic intersection of a particular type of song - in this case, the Jewish piyutim and nigunim - with psychophysical action in the sense developed by twentieth-century pioneers of acting Konstantin Stanislavski and Jerzy Grotowski.The core of the project is six months of full-time embodied research involving three skilled practitioners in a studio laboratory. The practitioners will have advanced competency in the technique of song (natural and extended voice and musicality) and action (movement, physical culture, psychophysical scores) and will work together to systematically chart and explore the practical possibilities for psychophysical action defined by the vocal structures of the selected songs. As embodied technique, singing is much more than just rhythm, melody, and lyrics, even if these are its essential foundation. Individual songs, especially when learned through oral tradition or audio recordings, also define structures of breath, vocal resonance qualities (timbre or color), and many other subtle aspects of the embodied voice that are not well captured by western musical notation. The core phase of embodied research will be supported by dramaturgical and musicological research and the PI will maintain and expand relationships with mentors working in Jewish studies and music.The laboratory practice will model best practices of documentation and transparency as they pertain to embodied laboratory research. Its results will be shared through live research presentations in the United Kingdom, United States, and Poland; a concluding interdisciplinary symposium; a collection of raw documentation files; and a series of print and digital multimedia publications that explore the concrete findings and epistemological implications of this new approach.