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REJECTS FOR ENJOYMENT

 

Deliberations on Music, Art and Censorship

 

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RINA SCHILLER

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ISBN: 978-1-917242-02-8

 

Price:  €15.00 plus shipping

 

 

 

 

About the Book:

 

A Collection of essays about music, art and censorship, considering questions such as: How do our malleable sense perceptions relate to art? How did the national stereotype of ‘The Irish’ over time in literature? How did the fall of the Berlin Wall affect community arts projects in the city? Why is a vibrant Irish music scene in Prague invisible in the city centre? How and why is instrumental music politicised? What dangers lurk in rigid classification models and labelling? The essays address an academic audience, as well as general readers.

 

 

 

About the Author:

 

Rina Schiller is an ethnomusicologist from a multicultural background, who lives in Belfast where she has played and studied music for many years.

Academic background: BA (1994), MA (1995), PhD in Ethnomusicology (2004)

Publications: Contributions to Companion to Irish Traditional Music (1999) ed. F. Vallely,

The Lambeg and the Bodhrán: Drums of Ireland (2001), The Elusive Celt: Perceptions of traditional Irish music communities in Europe (2022).

 

 

 

 

Sample Excerpt:

 

Rejects for Enjoyment discusses various aspects of the relationship between music, art, and censorship from an anthropological perspective. Questions are raised about the effectiveness of the current academic review process. Detailed ethnographic descriptions of traditional Irish community music-making are included.

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When censorship is mentioned nowadays, it usually evokes associations of times when actors in films were not permitted to be seen kissing, or of a period in American history when  almost everyone and everything was considered ‘communist.’

 

The censorship referred to in this book is almost invisible. It concerns the question of how many interesting and valuable ideas of young people in academia we lose because their work is stopped in its tracks by incompetent assessment from some of their elders. Five essays in this collection had developed over years with valuable feedback from colleagues, but they were all rejected for difficult-to-understand reasons by journal reviewers at the last stage before they reached the editors.  The sixth essay got lost in the confusion of a badly organised conference. Fortunately, some senior colleagues expressed the opinion that all these essays deserved attention. So, they are offered here for your consideration and enjoyment. May they contribute to a discussion of possible indications for present-day censorship.

 

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“Anyone interested in original perspectives on today’s world should read Rina Schiller.”

David O’Kane, Scientific Advisor, University of Makeni,  Sierra Leone.