From Content to Structure: Contributing to Disability Studies by Exploring the Notion of Normativity through Active Music Therapy

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 elucidated 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 music 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.