Staff
Mr James Archer, BA (Oxford), MA (Durham)
Biography
I began my AHRC-funded PhD project on time and experience in Adorno's aesthetics of music in 2011. Beginning with the formative literary, philosophical, and sociological influences on his work in the 1920s (particularly Bergson's theories of time and Proustian memoire involuntaire), my work builds on the existing - largely 'conceptual' - literature in the field to incorporate detailed discussion of Adorno's critical responses to Schubert, Beethoven, Wagner, Schoenberg and Stravinsky. In April 2013, I will present a paper on the place of image metaphors in Adorno's musical thought at the CUNY Graduate Centre, New York City.
Alongside this work on Adorno, I have presented work on the aesthetics of song at the Institute of Musical Research, School of Advanced Study (University of London), and am currently completing an article on theories of the 'image' in Lieder.In 2012-13, I have taught on undergraduate musicology courses at all levels, together with the introductory harmony and counterpoint course at Level 1.
Before coming to Durham, I read music as an academic scholar at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Away from music, I enjoy climbing, fell running and photography.
Research Interests
- Adorno
- Austro-German 'cultural politics'
- Landscape and identity in the arts
- Music historiography
- Theories of musical ‘value’