Music Education, Performativity and Aestheticization

Abstract

This paper discusses the phenomena of performativity and aestheticization and their implications for education. The forces of performativity pose a threat to music and the other arts, even though some advocators try to justify music education by appealing to their alleged performative results. At first sight, aestheticization seems to accord much better with music education but closer analysis of this many‐sided phenomenon also yields negative points: superficiality often reigns, overfeeding leads to anaesthesia, and the aesthetic itself is often controlled by economic performativity. Even so, it is argued, the prospects of music education may not be as sombre as postmodern philosophy suggests.

Keywords:

• aestheticization
• education
• music
• performativity
• postmodernism