Boada Bayona, Luisa; (2025) The Place of Music in Human Development and Experience. Multidisciplinary Explorations. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis employs a multidisciplinary approach to investigate the role of music in human development and experience. Adopting a sonic perspective, it explores the fields of biology, psychology, musicology, psychoanalysis, and philosophy to unravel their distinct understandings of music. By examining the ontologies of these disciplines, this research highlights both the possibilities and limitations within their frameworks for studying music. The argument put forth is that disciplinary singularities constrain a comprehensive understanding of music's role in development and experience, presumably entailing a synthetic understanding of music. This limitation becomes evident when comparing perspectives such as those of Donald Winnicott (1971) and the phenomenological approaches of music developed in this thesis, drawing inspiration from phenomenological traditions (e.g., Husserl, Merleau-Ponty, 1945), queer phenomenology (Ahmed, 2006), Latin American feminist and cultural theory (Anzaldúa, 2015), and environmental science philosophers (J.J. Gibson, 1979). This study argues that the inherent polysemy and dynamic nature of music plays a pivotal role in human development, navigating tensions within universal structures and fluid, individual experiences. This exploration unfolds across chapters that critically re-examine definitions of music, introduce the concept of "Musicality" (Honing et.al. 2018) rooted in psychobiological components, and delve into "Communicative Musicality" (Malloch & Trevarthen 2009) as a crucial aspect of early human pre-verbal communication. Furthermore, this thesis explores the intersections of music, time, and phenomenology, emphasising the creative tensions between stable repetition and improvisation. Drawing on psychoanalytic models and developmental theories, particularly those of Winnicott (1971), along with the incorporation of sonic perspectives, this research proposes a novel understanding of music that centres around its paradoxical nature of being both stable, due to the psychobiological structures that facilitate music-making due to the culturally sensitive aspects where individuals are socialised. This paradoxical characteristic, shared with emotional development, sheds light on the intricate interplay of consciousness and unconsciousness, time, and embodied experiences. The implications extend to understanding traumatic experiences and acknowledging the potential of music to restore the social fabric and individual integrity.

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