Stella Canonico

This paper presents a philosophical perspective on disability theorization grounded in the concept of normativity. The integration of phenomenology in Disability Studies, specifically the critique of Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s ideas, provides the background. A comprehensive analysis of the concept of maximal grip, as examined within the context of Merleau-Ponty’s thought, offers significant insights and potential avenues for further investigation. The notion of normativity will be lucidated through an integrated analysis of the perspectives proposed by Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Georges Canguilhem. An interpretation of this notion, which aims to provide a framework for investigating the conceptualisation of disability, will reveal the normative dynamics at play in the relationship between subject and world. This concept will therefore be examined in the context of an analysis of the case study of active music therapy, with a particular focus on how this practice approaches the subject with disabilities through the use of musical improvisation. In consequence, an analysis of the normativity of musical improvisation will prove beneficial. The core question of this research is whether it is possible to move beyond the conventional dichotomy of what is and is not considered to be a disability. In pursuing the goal of abandoning a reductionist approach to the theoretical definition of disability, my proposal aims to shift the focus from an examination of the content of the definition of disability to an investigation of the structure of the relationship between the subject and the world. In this regard, the concept of normativity offers an alternative to an approach that may result in the categorisation of disability into predetermined categories.

Il presente contributo analizza il tema della valorizzazione delle differenze in relazione alla disabilità, esplorandone l’ambiguità e promuovendo una riflessione che prenda corpo dal ruolo epistemologico del soggetto nella relazione educativa. A tale scopo, il testo prenderà esempio da approcci di musicoterapia con soggetti con ipoacusia e sordità che, tramite l’improvvisazione musicale, allenano l’apprendimento alla percezione sonora attraverso il corpo e le vibrazioni piuttosto che mediante una mera normalizzazione rispetto all’uso dei residui uditivi. Il concetto di saperi situati sarà utile a evidenziare il contributo epistemologico che le forme di conoscenza originate dalla disabilità possono apportare a una relazione educativa. L’obiettivo è evidenziare una rappresentazione della disabilità non unicamente come aspetto da correggere e in opposizione alla normalità, ma come una risorsa, promuovendo così una riflessione sull’effettiva valorizzazione delle differenze.

The article proposes to sketch an analogy between, on the one hand, linguistic learning and sound dialogue in humanist music therapy and, on the other hand, certain reflections of Maurice Merleau-Ponty: in particular, the centrality of corporeality in the learning, treated in the Phenomenology of Perception and in the courses on the psychology and pedagogy of the child, and the status of inter-corporeality developed through reflections on passivity and the metaphor of flesh. We will trace an analysis of the music therapy of Giulia Cremaschi Trovesi, with reference to the linguistic and musical gesture, through the Merleau-Pontian notion of praktognosia, and of the sound dialogue with reference to institution and intercorporeity. Through an interpretation of music in the terms adopted by Stéphanie Ménasé and in reference to Merleau-Pontian passivity in artistic creation, our objective is to define the musical institution of the vibrating body in music therapy in terms analogous to the institution of the subject according to Merleau-Ponty and, consequently, to find, in the sound dialogue, the intercorporeity which anticipates the individuation of the subject, by describing the communicative authenticity of the musical-therapeutic encounter.