In 1917, Max Weber (paraphrasing Schiller) famously proclaimed modernity’s “disenchantment of the world.” Weber was speaking specifically about the waning of belief in the cold light of science, secularism, and rationalized, bureaucratic capitalism, but his dictum has proven remarkably resonant beyond the social science quad. Indeed, disenchantment in various forms arguably pervades the postmodern humanities, as both diagnosis and method: the critical theorist disenchants, unmasks, demystifies. Most music theorists, it need hardly be said, do something quite different. As the SMT celebrates its 40th year, music theory—with its wide-eyed enthusiasms and unapologetic close readings, its loving attention to the sonic and the aesthetic, its frequent aloofness from the social and political—remains a discipline apart, a sort of blissed-out, sylvan glade within the Left-melancholic academy. Depending on one’s intellectual commitments this may be cause for celebration or withering critique. But before we exult or condemn, we should try, once again, to understand why, as music theorists, many of us are so prone to enchantment (despite frequent admonishments from our academic neighbors), and what this might mean for our discipline’s future, its place in the academic ecology, and its ethical commitments. This paper considers these questions in connection with the song “Poor Places” by the band Wilco, using it as a case study to stage a fictive encounter between (unabashedly enchanted) music analysis and more critically wary perspectives. I end with broader ethical considerations about enchantment’s potential to effect social change, drawing on the work of political theorist Jane Bennett. Volume 24, Number 1, March 2018 Copyright © 2018 Society for Music Theory [1.1] In 1917, Max Weber proclaimed modernity’s disenchantment of the world.(1) With Schiller on his mind, he saw belief and wonder in retreat from the cold light of science, secularism, and rationalized, bureaucratic capitalism.(2) In the decades since, Weber’s diagnosis has proven remarkably durable, taking on an almost axiomatic status in certain corners of the academy.(3) Indeed, the postmodern humanities can often feel doubly disenchanted, for here the aesthetic, too, has lost its aura: it turns out that that book you love, or that painting, or that poem, is not so innocent after all. Our fallen world contaminates the text: inequities of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability; the relations of production and the depredations of capital; and all manner of political violence, power, and abjection leave their imprint. The aesthetic becomes a site not of “minor enchantment,” as some had hoped, but of stark choice: false consciousness or resistance.(4) [1.2] It’s rarely so extreme, of course, but the general phenomenon is familiar enough—as is the figure of the critical theorist, ever at the ready to demystify, to unmask. Most music theorists, it need hardly be said, do something quite different. The student who enters the harmony classroom is not usually enticed into ideology critique. Instead, she is encouraged to attend closely to melodies, chords, and rhythms, to learn how to reproduce and analyze them, and to relish their masterful deployment in exemplary works. Our research is more diverse, but the mood is not all that different, as a weekend at this conference often reminds me. We are, on the whole, a rather wide-eyed, enthusiastic bunch, eager to get some music in our ears and figure out how it works its magic. In short, as the SMT celebrates its fortieth year, music theory remains a discipline apart. The Left melancholy that blankets so much of the academy seems not to cast a shadow over our field.(5) MTO Home Current Issue Previous Issues Submit Jobs Dissertations About Journals SMT Music's Stubborn Enchantments (and Music Theory's

中文翻译：

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音乐的顽固魅力（和音乐理论）

1917 年，马克斯·韦伯（释义席勒）著名地宣称现代性是“对世界的幻灭”。韦伯特别谈到了对科学、世俗主义和理性化、官僚资本主义的冷光的信仰逐渐减弱，但他的名言已被证明在社会科学领域之外引起了极大的共鸣。事实上，各种形式的祛魅可以说遍及后现代人文学科，无论是诊断还是方法：批判理论家祛魅、揭开面具、揭开神秘面纱。毋庸置疑，大多数音乐理论家所做的事情完全不同。在 SMT 庆祝成立 40 周年之际，音乐理论——以其睁大眼睛的热情和毫无歉意的仔细阅读、对声音和美学的热爱、对社会和政治的频繁冷漠——仍然是一门独立的学科，一种幸福-出去，左忧郁学院内的森林林间空地。根据一个人的智力承诺，这可能是值得庆祝或令人沮丧的批评的原因。但是在我们欢呼或谴责之前，我们应该再次尝试理解为什么作为音乐理论家，我们中的许多人如此容易着迷（尽管我们的学术邻居经常告诫他们），以及这对我们学科的未来可能意味着什么，它在学术生态中的地位，以及它的道德承诺。本文结合 Wilco 乐队的歌曲“Poor Places”来考虑这些问题，将其作为案例研究，在（毫不掩饰的迷恋）音乐分析和更谨慎的观点之间进行虚构的相遇。我以关于附魔影响社会变革的潜力的更广泛的伦理考虑作为结尾，借鉴了政治理论家 Jane Bennett 的工作。第 24 卷第 1 期，2018 年 3 月 版权所有 © 2018 音乐理论协会 [1.1] 1917 年，马克斯·韦伯 (Max Weber) 宣布现代性对世界的幻灭。(1) 在席勒的脑海​​中，他看到了从冷光中撤退的信念和奇迹(2) 从那以后的几十年里，韦伯的诊断被证明是非常持久的，在学术界的某些角落占据了几乎不言而喻的地位。 (3) 事实上，后现代人文学科经常可以感受到双重幻灭，因为在这里，审美也失去了光环：原来你爱的那本书，那幅画，那首诗，终究不是那么天真。我们堕落的世界污染了文本：种族、阶级、性别、性取向和能力的不平等；生产关系和资本掠夺；各种政治暴力、权力和落魄都留下了他们的烙印。美学不再像一些人所希望的那样成为一个“小魔法”，而是一个鲜明的选择：虚假意识或抵抗。(4) [1.2] 当然，它很少如此极端，但普遍现象已经足够熟悉了——如是批判理论家的形象，随时准备揭开神秘面纱，揭开面具。毋庸置疑，大多数音乐理论家所做的事情完全不同。进入和谐课堂的学生通常不会被意识形态批判所吸引。相反，她被鼓励密切关注旋律、和弦和节奏，学习如何再现和分析它们，并在示范作品中欣赏它们的巧妙运用。我们的研究更加多样化，但情绪并没有那么不同，正如本次会议的周末经常提醒我的那样。总的来说，我们是一群睁大眼睛、热情洋溢的人，渴望在我们耳边听到一些音乐，并弄清楚它是如何发挥魔力的。简而言之，在 SMT 庆祝成立 40 周年之际，音乐理论仍然是一门独立的学科。笼罩着学院大部分人的左派忧郁似乎并没有给我们的领域投下阴影。 (5) MTO 主页 当前问题 上一期 提交工作论文 关于期刊 SMT 音乐的顽固魅力（和音乐理论的）