"We Travel the Spaceways": Article in Urban Geography

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#1 Wed, 2012-05-23 11:17
A.J. Wright
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"We Travel the Spaceways": Article in Urban Geography

 Journal Title  - Urban Geography
    Article Title  - "We Travel the Spaceways": Urban Utopianism and the Imagined Spaces of Black Experimental Music
    Volume  - Volume 33
    Issue  - 4
    First Page  - 566
    Last Page  - 592
    Issue Cover Date  - 2012-05-01
    
    Author  - William Sites
Abstract

Recent geographical studies of music (e.g., Anderson, 2002; Wood et al.,
2007) suggest their potential to contribute to critical utopian thinking. This
study offers a preliminary examination of musical utopianism, focusing in
particular on its contribution to several questions provoked by the emerging
dialogue between urban spatial theory and artistic cultural practice (Pinder,
2008). Drawing insights from philosophy, musicology, sociology, geography, and
urban studies, this theoretical investigation centers on how music creates
imagined spaces and whether these spaces might be considered utopian. Following
a discussion of black music's distinctive engagement with utopia and the city,
the Chicago-based work of the composer and bandleader Sun Ra is examined as a
complex, experimental exploration of musical utopia in a post-utopian
age.