This morning I was preparing some material for my "Music in the Elementary Classroom" course. We are about to begin our music and movement unit and I wanted to re-read the articles I assign to my students. I came across the name of Susanne Langer and like Dan, I thought to myself, "Why have I never heard of this person before?"

I began searching through WVU libraries online to learn more. According to the Encyclopedia of Religion (Lyon, 2005), Langer was an influential German-American philosopher who wrote on symbols, myth, and aesthetic experiences.

The article I was preparing in class mentioned Langer in relation to her 1953 book, Feeling and Form: A Theory of Art. Her work suggests that symbolic forms can manifest in more ways than in words, such as art pieces and dance. Language is limited by form and cannot express the full extent of emotion as well as music and paintings can (Lyon, 2005).

Like many women philosophers of the mid-twentieth century, Langer faced resistance and her work was and remains under-recognized (Lyon, 2005).

Although I do not have much to say about Langer today, I look forward to reading more about her and understanding the implications of her ideas for music education. This was an unexpected and happy exploration today!

References
Lyon, A. (2005). Susanne Langer. In L. Jones (Ed.)., Encyclopedia of Religion. (3rd ed., Vol. 8., pp. 5300-5301). Detroit, MI: Macmillan Reference USA.