Fantasy Art and Studies 10: Enchanted Music / Musique enchantée

Par Les Têtes Imaginaires

Fantasy et musique sont étroitement liés à travers l'association de la musique aux pouvoirs créateurs.
Les auteurs et les chercheurs du 10e numéro de Fantasy Art and Studies explorent le lien privilégié entre musique et Fantasy, de la musique créatrice d'univers à la musique qui sauve et qui transforme, en passant par les rapports entre création musicale et inspiration littéraire.
Un numéro superbement illustré par GaëlleC., Hélène Gauthier, Guillaume Labrude, Maïwenn-Iman Le Garff, Antoine Pelloux, Emmanuelle Ramberg et Véronique Thill, et comprenant un nouveau chapitre de la BD de Guillaume Labrude.

Fantasy and music are closely linked through the association of music with creative powers.
The authors and researchers of the 10th issue of Fantasy Art and Studies explore the special link between music and fantasy, from world-building music to saving and transforming music, and the relationship between musical creation and creative writing.
A beautifully illustrated issue by GaëlleC., Hélène Gauthier, Guillaume Labrude, Maïwenn-Iman Le Garff, Antoine Pelloux, Emmanuelle Ramberg and Véronique Thill, including a new chapter of Guillaume Labrude's comics.

• Langue: Français
• Éditeur: Les Têtes Imaginaires
• Date de sortie: 13 juil. 2021
• ISBN: 9782901099192

Aperçu du livre

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Directrice de publication et éditrice / Publication director and editor : Viviane Bergue

Coordinateurs du numéro / Coordinators of the issue : Caroline Duvezin-Caubet, Monis Enidra

Comité de lecture / Reading board : Viviane Bergue, Justine Breton, Sandra Delanchy, Caroline Duvezin-Caubet, Monis Enidra, Guillaume Labrude, Siegfried Würtz

Illustrateurs / Illustrators : GaëlleC., Hélène Gauthier, Guillaume Labrude, Maïwenn-Iman Le Garff, Antoine Pelloux, Emmanuelle Ramberg, Véronique Thill

Illustration de couverture / Cover illustration : Véronique Thill

Maquette et conception graphique / Layout and graphic design : Antoine Pelloux

Dépôt légal / Legal deposit : juin/ June 2021

ISBN ebook : 978-2-901099-19-2 ISSN : 2646-5132

Les textes et les illustrations sont la propriété de leurs auteurs et ne peuvent être copiés ou reproduits sans leur consentement.

All texts and illustrations are the properties of their respective authors and cannot be copied or reproduced without their consent.

Revue imprimée en Allemagne et distribuée par Books on Demand, GmbH.

Fantasy Art and Studies est édité par les Têtes Imaginaires, association de loi 1901.

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© Guillaume Labrude

Sommaire / Contents

Edito 4

Article.Bring the Beat: Music as Inspiration for Urban Fantasy, de/by Shiri Weinbaum Sondheimer 6

Fiction.Le Chant des Ascendants, de/ by A. C. Roustand 17

Fiction.Larme de chance, de/by Hétonque 27

Article.Entre Black Metal et Dungeon Synth : Summoning et la mise en musique de l’univers tolkienien, de/by Sarah Léon 34

Poème/Poem.Direnn et Drianlaezh, de/by Monis Enidra 47

Fiction.Terres de tambour, de/by Lucile Poulain 50

Fiction.Le Moriang, de/by Sébastien Celle 60

Article.Singing into Being: Defamiliarisation as Creation in J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis, de/by Amy Stimson 68

Fiction.Summerdance, de/by Mian Selike 78

Fiction.The Birdcatcher’s Song, de/by Hélène Gauthier 81

BD/Comics. Un Requiem pour Caliban, de/by Guillaume Labrude 91

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Edito

Musique et Fantasy entretiennent un lien privilégié, à travers l’association de la musique aux pouvoirs créateurs. Les auteurs et les chercheurs de notre 10e numéro explorent ce lien, de la musique créatrice d’univers à la musique qui sauve et qui transforme, en passant par les rapports entre inspiration musicale et création littéraire. Shiri W. Sondheimer examine ainsi la manière dont les auteurs de Fantasy urbaine s’appuient sur la musique pour développer leurs récits, ouvrant une réflexion plus large sur le rôle de la musique dans la créativité des écrivains. A. C. Roustand nous entraîne dans une fiction à la fois drôle et fascinante où la survie d’un village dépend de ses guerriers-chanteurs, tandis que Hétonque confronte son héroïne à un instrument magique qui transforme ceux qui en jouent.

La musicologue Sarah Léon s’intéresse pour sa part à Summoning, groupe de Black Metal et Dungeon Synth qui s’inspire de Tolkien pour ses titres, soulignant au passage l’influence de la Fantasy sur le Metal et ses thèmes de prédilection. La poésie s’invite également dans ce numéro, par l’entremise d’un poème de Monis Enidra relatant la rencontre d’un couple mythique de son univers, par le biais d’un chant. Lucile Poulain nous plonge dans un monde où les tambours sont l’âme des villages, là où Sébastien Celle exprime la singularité du musicien, né différent dans un univers tourné vers les activités de la mer.

La chercheuse Amy Stimson nous ramène vers les rivages de Tolkien et de son camarade C. S. Lewis dans une analyse passionnante de leur relecture de la Genèse à travers la création par la musique des mondes d’Arda et de Narnia.

Enfin, Mian Selike et Hélène Gauthier nous offrent tour à tour un exemple des pouvoirs de la musique, entre danse rituelle et mélodie plus forte que le silence assourdissant de la mort.

À retrouver également dans ce numéro : un nouveau chapitre de la BD de Guillaume Labrude, et les illustrations de Véronique Thill, Guillaume Labrude, Maïwenn-Iman Le Garff, Hélène Gauthier, GaëlleC. et Emmanuelle Ramberg.

Bonne lecture !

Music and Fantasy have a special bond, through the association of music with creative powers. The authors and researchers in our 10th issue explore this connection, from world-building music to saving and transforming music, and the relationship between musical inspiration and creative writing. Shiri W. Sondheimer examines how Urban Fantasy writers rely on music to develop their stories, opening up a broader reflection on the role of music in writers’ creativity. A. C. Roustand takes us into a funny and fascinating fiction where the survival of a village depends on its warrior-singers, while Hétonque confronts his female protagonist with a magical instrument that transforms those who play it .

Musicologist Sarah Léon deals with Summoning, a Black Metal and Dungeon Synth band that draws inspiration from Tolkien for its songs, underlining the influence of Fantasy on Metal and its favourite themes. Poetry is also present in this issue, through a poem by Monis Enidra relating the meeting of a mythical couple from his universe, through a song. Lucile Poulain plunges us into a world where drums are the soul of the villages, while Sébastien Celle expresses the singularity of the musician, born different in a universe turned towards the activities of the sea.

Researcher Amy Stimson takes us back to Tolkien’s shores and that of his comrade C. S. Lewis in a fascinating analysis of their re-reading of Genesis as they create the worlds of Arda and Narnia through music.

Finally, Mian Selike and Hélène Gauthier offer us in turn an example of the powers of music, between ritual dance and melody stronger than the deafening silence of death.

Also in this issue: a new chapter of Guillaume Labrude’s comics, and illustrations by Véronique Thill, Guillaume Labrude, Maïwenn-Iman Le Garff, Hélène Gauthier, GaëlleC. and Emmanuelle Ramberg.

Enjoy your reading!

Monis Enidra

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ARTICLE

Bring the Beat: Music as Inspiration for Urban Fantasy

Shiri Weinbaum Sondheimer

Shiri is a former registered nurse who holds a Master in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School because it seemed like a good idea at the time. She now writes about comics, manga, associated moving versions of said properties, and fandom for several websites as well as penning free-lance social media marketing copy and pop-culture philosophy/theology snarkiness. She also spends a good deal of time recording the strange adventures of her imaginary friends. Shiri lives in Pittsburgh, PA with a spouse, two smaller humans, two elderly felines, and four plants named after anime characters.

Shiri est une ancienne infirmière diplômée qui a obtenu un Master en Études Théologiques à la Harvard Divinity School parce que cela semblait être une bonne idée à l’époque. Aujourd’hui, elle écrit sur les bandes dessinées, les mangas, les versions mobiles associées auxdites œuvres, ainsi que sur le fandom pour plusieurs sites Web. Elle rédige également en freelance des textes marketing pour les médias sociaux et des articles de philosophie/théologie sur la culture populaire. Elle passe également beaucoup de temps à enregistrer les aventures étranges de ses amis imaginaires. Shiri vit à Pittsburgh, en Pennsylvanie, avec son conjoint, deux petits humains, deux vieux félins et quatre plantes portant le nom de personnages d’anime.

Mus ic has a long-established connection to emotion. As early as 124 BCE, the Greek physician Asklepiades is rumored to have prescribed music to brighten up depressed patients ¹. King Philip V of Spain (1683-1746), thought to have suffered from major depressive disorder, was unable to attend to his royal duties, leaving his room for only a few hours a night if at all, and would see no one with the exception of the queen until his doctor ordered arias. Carlo Broschi Farinelli performed four a night for ten years and for the duration, Philip was able to attend to some of his duties during daylight hours and even to meet with his council at intervals ².

In the modern era, music is touted not only as a mood booster but also as a tool to enhance creativity, especially for writers, which leads one to wonder if there is a link between the neurobiologies of mood and creativity. If music affects mood and mood affects creativity, does music necessarily influence creativity and, if it does, is there a specific type of music that enhances creativity? A type of music that would be best for writers in general, and writers of particular genres, such as urban fantasy, which strives to evoke a nexus of many emotions, among them wonder, curiosity, fear, and humor³, to listen to in order to optimize their output; or is it up to individual taste and intention, even when authors are producing work that falls within a specific genre?

Before we begin our analysis, let us define a few terms for the sake of consistency. Literary terms are some of the most difficult to parse as each source is likely to have a slightly different definition, especially where the parameters of a given genre or sub-genre are concerned. For the purposes of this paper, because these elements are the ones included in nearly all definitions of the genre, urban fantasy is defined as: stories that explore the interplay of a modern setting and traditional elements of fantasy and folklore⁴; with the modern setting serving as a portal for the mixing of the magical and mundane⁵. Per John Clute, citing a theory pioneered by Elana Gomel, this setting is either a real city modified to fit the needs of a fantasy story or an imagined metropolis that has been created not only as a setting but as an environment; in either case the city is not simply a passive place but an active character in the narrative⁶. He amended the definition in 2012 to include that urban fantasy used the city as milieu where humans (often with special talents) and supernatural beings […] interact via adventure, melodrama, intrigue and sex.⁷ It is through these interactions the protagonist has access to the magical world which may or may not be recognized or acknowledged by the rest of society.⁸

Where neurobiology is concerned, cortisol—a hormone secreted by the adrenal gland—is a measurable marker of stress and helps to raise the body’s awareness in preparation to engage either fight or flight⁹. Levels of cortisol are inversely related to levels of the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, responsible for feelings of happiness and pleasure respectively; thus the more psychosocial stressors one is experiencing, the less happy one is and the less pleasure they will experience¹⁰. Cortisol, serotonin and dopamine can all be measured in saliva and are thus easily tested while study subjects are engaged in various activities, both stressful and creative, where stressful activities are scenarios such as mock job interviews or exams and creative activities are those in which the subject is asked to engage ingenerating ideas, insights, and solutions that are both novel and useful¹¹.

The theory that music has a positive effect on urban fantasy writers and their ability to produce stories, let alone stories within their genre, is of little use without scientific evidence that music has the potential to affect the creative process. Once this connection has been established, we will review functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data comparing levels of neurological activity observed in relation to the type of music the test subject is listening to. Finally, we will compare three urban fantasy authors’ work, confirm their work meets the criteria for urban fantasy as defined above, and compare and contrast their playlists and explanations of the ways in which they assemble the tracks they listen to while engaged in the act of writing.

The Relationship Between Music and Creativity

As stated above, serotonin and dopamine are present in the brain, and thus available to their respective receptors, in inverse proportion to cortisol. While the myth of the tortured artist has long persisted to the extent that artists in every field have refused medication that would improve biologically based neurotransmitter imbalances, often to the detriment of their quality of life and with sometimes tragic consequences, science suggests that people who are happier are actually more creative¹². Baba Shiv, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, reports that serotonin and dopamine are also present in higher levels, in individuals engaged in creative behaviors while, conversely, animal studies suggest baboons under stress, in whom cortisol levels are higher, are closed off to new ideas as is indicated by their refusal to seek new territory.¹³ Those who are calmer, with higher levels of serotonin and dopamine, range further from familiar ground.

Are there ways, then, to encourage the brain and related systems to release more serotonin and dopamine, or to signal the adrenal gland to reduce release of cortisol? Can we prime our neurological structures for creative work and maintain that optimal environment for the duration? Neurologists and neuroscientists believe they may have found at least one way to do so: introduce music into the equation.

In his book Musicophilia, renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks describes a patient who, after a brain aneurysm, recovered his intellectual abilities but remained emotionally impaired, described as inert, flat, and indifferent except when he sang; when this patient was engrossed in music, he would become jovial, wistful, and display other emotions appropriate to the music, the courtesy he showed others no longer rote and automatic but genuine and warm, his personality very much as it was prior to the bleed damaging his brain¹⁴. The moment the music ended, the patient reverted to a flat affect and programmed behaviors.

If there were a single music center of the brain, this phenomenon would be easily explained by the activation of that center. As far as neurologists and neuroscientists have been able to determine, however, unlike speech or vision, there is no single area of the brain responsible for receiving and interpreting