sociological principles in music

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The Concept of Norm in Sociological Theory and Its Application to Music

Author(s): Helmut StaubmannSource: International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music, Vol. 22, No. 2 (Dec.,1991), pp. 119-125Published by: Croatian Musicological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/836919.

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H. STAUBMANN:NORMIN SOCIOLOGY,RASM 2 (1991)2, 119-125 119

THECONCEPTOF NORMIN SOCIOLOGICALHEORYAND ITSAPPLICATION OMUSIC

HELMUTSTAUBMANN UDC:8.067OriginalScientificPaper

DepartmentfSociology, Izvorni nanstveniadReceived:April11, 1991UniversityofInnsbruck, Primljeno:1. ravnja991.6020 INNSBRUCK, Austria Accepted:October, 1991Prihvadeno:. listopada1991.Abstract Resume

The concept of norm and questions con-cerning the emergence and change of normsin social systems take a prominent place in so-ciological theory.The article tries to treat the particulari-ties of the specification to musical norms oraesthetic norms in general. There is no generalacknowledged status of the norm concept indifferent sociological paradigms. Exemplifiedby the sociology of music of John H. Mueller,

Christian Kaden and Elisabeth Haselauer it isshown that the specification depends on theoption for a special paradigm. The applicationof norm theories on aesthetic phenomena hasconsequences in two directions. Firstly,it leadsto a non-reductionist explanation of aestheticbehavior and, secondly, it shows the necessityof further elaboration of the norm conceptand basic sociological concepts like the notionof sanction.

Thefollowing considerationsare aboutaestheticmusicalnorms; he centralquestion is how sociological norm theories- theories about the conditions ofemergence and change of a singular norm or of more or less complex normstructures- can be generally specified in order to be applicableto the emer-gence and transformation f aestheticmusical norms.The first necessaryreflectionbeforeundertakinga projectof this type, andthis reflection s often also the firstquestionin a discussion aboutthe topic,con-cerns the problem of whetherit is at all useful to describemusic or, moregen-erally, art- that is creativeactivityand experience n the broadest sense - bytheoreticalconcepts such as norms,or even to identify music or art in generalwith such concepts. To the public,art is diametricallyopposed to the norms ofthe respective society. Art is rather the individual's means of expressionagainst society.On the otherhand,if we acceptthe fertilityof the normconceptin the analysisof music culture, sn't it thensuperfluous o repeatfor the field of

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120 H. STAUBMANN:NORMIN SOCIOLOGY,RASM 2 (1991)2, 119-125

music what is generally valid for the emergenceand developmentof norms. Ithinkthat the particularitiesand theoreticalchallengeencountered n the appli-cation of the theory of norms to music is likely to createnew views on otherfields dealing with the emergenceof norms.The empiricalobservationsI made in the courseof a study some yearsagoabout the musical-culturalattitudesof adolescentsgave the immediateimpulsefor my working on sociologicalnormtheories,and their relationto music.'Thestudy concernedthe use of media, the musical tasteand the musicalactivities of12 to 16 year old students. For my inquiry, I used what Karbusickycalled a?soundingquestionnairepeergroup


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H. STAUBMANN:NORM IN SOCIOLOGY,RASM 2 (1991)2, 119-125 121Thereis anotherpoint in my observations o which I wish to do draw par-ticularattention. The group memberacting under externalpressure(sanction),does not experiencethis pressureas such, and thereforehe or she does not ex-

periencehis or her action as being in conformitywith the group norms. On thecontrary, n the case of adolescents,musicalpreferencesarea meansto expressthe aesthetic detachment from parentsand school, a phenomenon which sus-tains the opposite assumption. We can observe this kind of dialecticbetweenadaptionand deviation with all aestheticphenomena,e.g. with fashion or withnew styles in painting.However, notions such as sanction,socialcontrol,socialization, onformityand deviation lead to the conceptof norms.Butbeforediscussingthe difficultyof giving a homogeneous and generally acknowledged definition of norms, Iwish to summarize other studies in the field of sociologyof music,which men-tion the conceptof normsmoreor less explicitly.2As far as I know, therehave been threeexplicitattemptsto apply the con-cept of norms to music. The oldest and certainlythe most elaborateattemptisto be found in the work of JohnH. Mueller,the Americansociologist. In histheory,Mueller,author of severalimportantempiricalstudies about the devel-opment of musical taste - his most importantwork treats the changes in therepertoireof American symphony orchestras- follows primarilythe line ofWilliam GrahamSumner. Accordingto Sumnerthere are certainphenomenathatoccur within a group which he himself called>mores< or ?folkways


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122 H. STAUBMANN:NORMIN SOCIOLOGY,RASM 2 (1991)2, 119-125

of aesthetic norms: on the one hand, normsemergeand changebecause of cer-tain aestheticideas embedded in the individualby the processof international-ization, on the other hand, they emerge and changebecause of theirestablish-ment in the social system by the processof institutionalization.Christian Kaden, a Germanmusic sociologist, also deals with the emer-gence of norms and the social conditions of their development in his marx-ist-materialist analysis of the particularitiesof shepherd music as comparedto ordinary folk music. However, his definition of the norm concept is notidentical to the definition of norms used in sociology. Kaden uses >>norm?on the abstract level of cybernetic language usage, which understands>>norm?as the total of all qualities of a system which resist all kinds of ex-ternal influences. He writes: >>Accordingo this definition a 'norm' does notimply something forbidden or prescribed, nor does it mean that a norm isconsciously set. Of course it would have been possible to use the term'structural characteristics' instead of 'musical norms', but as characteristicsthat always remain stable need to be specified, the norm concept appears tobe most adequate for their description.


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H. STAUBMANN:NORM IN SOCIOLOGY,RASM22 (1991)2, 119-125 123Thecomparisonof these threeattemptsto apply the normconceptto musicculture reveals one problem very clearly: here is no definitionof normsgener-ally accepted by the scientificcommunity.Oftenauthorsuse this termintuitive-

ly, or they are satisfied with using the norm conceptas it is defined in every-day language. Explicit definitions of norms range from >regularities ofbehaviour that can be empirically observed< to >evaluations in the sense ofattitudes, that is preferences< and >>patternsf internaland external behavi-our


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124 H. STAUBMANN:ORM NSOCIOLOGY,RASM2(1991) , 119-125ciprocityand controlof traditional orms of communication.s specially his ideaof detachmentof the transmissionof aestheticalnorms from the controlmecha-nism of the primary groups such as family, local communities, schools etc.could be the decisive explanation of music-culturalchange. Thus, as we cansee in the case of pop music, music-cultural interferences are favored andaccelerated.2. In social systems, the stabilizationof expectations s assuredby certaincontrol-mechanisms.A majorpartof sociologicalliterature reatsthese mecha-nisms of social controlin relationto norms of externalbehaviour,such as statut-ed laws. In this context, the particularitiesof music-aestheticalnorms becomeparticularyevident as they have a more direct influenceon the developmentofpersonality. Thus, the adoption of aesthetic norms seems to be more stronglybound to, and more dependent on the subject.Traditionalpotentialsof sanc-tions such as punishment,material ncentives,and gradesas used in music les-sons at school, are not applicableto norms of taste.Above all, the subtle formsof approvaland disapproval,which have considerable nfluenceon the forma-tion of the identity of the individual, play a significant role in the field ofaesthetics.As early as 1951,Clyde Kluckhohnwrote in his classic, frequentlyquotedessay >Values and Value-Orientation n the Theoryof Action. An Explorationin Definition and ClassificationIt is felt ... that in a very broadand generalway the same principles apply to aestheticand expressive values as to moraland cognitive values. However, a conceptual analysis in the aesthetic side asfull as that which follows on the ethical must be a separatetask.Verinderungenm System gesellschaftlicherKommunikationund die Massenmedien,


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H. STAUBMANN:NORMIN SOCIOLOGY,RASM 2 (1991)2, 119-125 125BIBLIOGRAPHY

HASELAUER,Elisabeth:MusiksoziologischetudienachEmileDurkheim,Vienna, 1977.KADEN,Christian:>>Musikalischeormenbildungund ihre sozialen Grundlagen,< nternationalReviewof the Aestheticand Sociologyof Music,V/2 (1975):pp. 57-66.KLUCKHOHN,Clyde:*Valuesand Value-Orientationsn the Theoryof Action.An Explorationin Definition and Classification,< n: Toward GeneralTheory f Action,ed. Talcott PAR-SONSand E. A. SHILS,New York,1951,pp. 388-433.LUHMANN, Niklas: SozialeSysteme.GrundrijfinerallgemeinenTheorie,Frankfurt,1984.LUHMANN,Niklas: WVerAnderungenm System gesellschaftlicherKommunikation nd die Mas-senmedien,< in: Niklas LUHMANN,Soziologische ufklirung3, Opladen,1981,pp. 309-334.MUELLER, ohn H.: >>Methods f Measurement of Aesthetic Folkways,

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