Jacob Robbins

Can You Feel It?: Emotional Resonance Across Jazz and Literature Jacob Robbins

Who says it is impossible to study music and literature at the same time? Why can't a theorist apply techniques from one discipline to the other and expect consistent results? Is there something inherently difficult about studying art that makes these kinds of explorations a fool's errand? In the end, who gets to say if art, especially Impressionism, has defined meaning or debatable conclusions? This work establishes a degree of precedence for further study of the similarities between Modernist artists across media boundaries. By looking at the work of Duke Ellington and Ernest Hemingway we see how revolutionary and popular artists in their respective Modernist eras draw upon similar techniques in their compositional styles. Uniting these two artists under the banner of Impressionism requires a methodology excitedly interested in delving into the mire of emotional response. Passionate feelings about hermeneutics and interpretation should be embraced as opposed to shunned. In this, we see exactly how wrestling with these preconceived tendencies can illuminate hidden structures at play in how we look at the world.