Susan McClary
The later 20th century saw the rise of postmodern and literary criticism, critical theory, narratology, feminism and other identity politics, and film theory, all which was applied to sonata forms. One particularly controversial work is 1991's Feminine Endings, by Susan McClary. Her book describes how sonata form may be interpreted as sexist or misogynistic and imperialistic, and that, "tonality itself - with its process of instilling expectations and subsequently withholding promised fulfillment until climax - is the principal musical means during the period from 1600 to 1900 for arousing and channeling desire." She analyzes the sonata procedure for its constructions of gender and sexual identity. The primary, once "masculine", key (or first subject group) represents the, always in narrative, male, self, while the secondary, "feminine" key (or second subject group) represents the Other: female, foreigner, difference, a terrority to be explored and conquered, assimilated into the self and stated in the tonic home key. This reading is based in the work of Lacan and Derrida.
Read more about this topic: Criticism And Sonata Form
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