Critical Criminology Goes to the Opera: Intersection of Power, Race, Gender, Crime, Punishment, and Justice (Cancelled)

• In Event: Violence, Hate, and Power in Musical Performances

Abstract

To investigate intersections between criminology and popular culture, criminologists have begun to examine messages and images of crime, criminal behavior, and justice/injustice conveyed to diverse audiences through movies, television, and social media. This presentation focuses on opera, whose contribution to societal beliefs about crime and justice has generally been understudied, although performed before the elites and even general publics in many nations since the 17th century. Part of a larger project analyzing selected operas using an extrapolated critical criminological framework, this presentation explores racial and gender inequality themes in relation to crime and punishment. The selection criteria included evidence of a critical criminology perspective (e.g., unequal distribution of power); different historical; cultural, and geographical contexts; and diverse operatic traditions. Earlier operatic depictions of the intersection of crime and justice with race or gender sometimes perpetuated stereotypes (e.g., Carmen and Porgy and Bess) while asking probing questions; recent operas (e.g., Dolores Claiborne, Picker and McClatchy, 2013; Champion, Blanchard and Cristofer, 2013; and Blue, Tesori and Thompson, 2019) consider contemporary issues. Based primarily on a review of critical criminology literature and original sources and academic research on opera, this study explores evolving messages about systemic inequality and crime conveyed through opera.

Author

• Barbara Ann Stolz, Georgetown University