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Journals / Konservatoryum / 2026 / Cilt: 13 Sayı: 1

Versatility in Music Research: New Musicology in Terms of Its Definition, Methodology, and Scope

Müzik Araştırmasında Çokyönlülük: Tanımı, Yöntemi ve Kapsamıyla Yeni Müzikoloji

Aslıhan Gürbüzer, Seyit Yöre

Pages
450–460
Publication Date
2026-06-30
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Abstract

Musicology emerged and became institutionalized in the late nineteenth century as a discipline whose scope, methodology, and objectives became clearly defined. For a long period, composer- and work-centered, formalist, and historical explanatory models constituted the main backbone of the field. However, beginning in the first half of the twentieth century, the influence of critical theory compelled scholars to reconsider music not merely as a technical object but as a phenomenon that acquires meaning within social, cultural, and ideological relations. With the acceleration of interdisciplinary approaches in the 1980s, this critical orientation became more visible. Parallel to this development, the number of studies grouped under the title of “new musicology” increased, while conceptual ambiguities emerged regarding the definition, scope, and methodological character of the approach. Departing from this conceptual ambiguity in the literature, this article aimed to determine, the definition, scope, and methodological character of new musicology. In this historically oriented study, the relevant data were collected through the document analysis technique, and the findings were obtained through descriptive data analysis. It was determined that new musicology examines music not merely as a “classical music” -based and static element, but as a multidimensional cultural phenomenon, and that the concepts of “new,” “critical,” “postmodern,” and “interdisciplinary” that have emerged are, in fact, different points of emphasis within the same epistemological framework. Thus, it was concluded that the field reconstructs the meaning of music on a contextual and transdisciplinary basis, were centered critical methodology and extending its analyses from gender studies to ideological critique.

Özet

Müzikoloji, 19. yüzyılın sonlarında kapsamı, yöntemi ve amacı belirginleşen bir disiplin olarak ortaya çıkıp kurumsallaşmış, uzun süre besteci ve eser merkezli, biçimsel ve tarihsel açıklama modelleri alanın ana omurgasını oluşturmuştur. Ancak 20. yüzyılın ilk yarısından itibaren gelişen eleştirel teori perspektifinin etkisi, müziği sadece teknik bir nesne olarak değil, toplumsal, kültürel ve ideolojik ilişkiler içinde anlam kazanan bir olgu olarak düşünmeye zorlamıştır. 1980’lerle birlikte, disiplinlerarası açılımın hızlanması, bu eleştirel yönelimi görünür kılmış, buna paralel olarak “yeni müzikoloji” başlığı altında toplanan çalışmaların sayısı artarken, yaklaşımın tanımı, kapsamı ve yöntemsel karakteri üzerine kavramsal bir belirsizlik de oluşmuştur. Bu makale, literatürdeki bu kavramsal belirsizlikten yola çıkarak Yeni Müzikoloji’nin tanımı, kapsamı ve yöntemsel karakterini belirlemeyi amaçlamıştır. Tarihsel yöntemli bu araştırmada ilgili veriler doküman analizi tekniğiyle elde edilmiş ve betimsel veri analizi tekniğiyle bulgular ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda, Yeni Müzikoloji’nin müziği sadece ‘klasik müzik’ temelli ve durağan bir unsur olmaktan çıkarıp çok boyutlu bir kültürel olgu olarak incelediği, ortaya çıkan “yeni”, “eleştirel”, “postmodern” ve “disiplinlerarası” kavramlarının da aslında aynı epistemolojik çerçevenin farklı vurgu noktaları olduğu tespit edilmiştir. Böylece alanın, eleştirel yöntemi merkeze alarak toplumsal cinsiyetten ideoloji çözümlemelerine kadar uzanan geniş bir yelpazede, müziğin anlamını bağlamsal ve disiplinlerötesi bir zeminde yeniden inşa ettiği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır.

Keywords
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Cite This Article

Gürbüzer, A., Yöre, S. (2026). Versatility in Music Research: New Musicology in Terms of Its Definition, Methodology, and Scope. Konservatoryum, Cilt: 13 Sayı: 1, 450–460. https://doi.org/10.26650/CONS2026-1895763

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