Lisa Bonnár

Behaviour, thoughts, feelings, actions have a musical quality”

Stern in “The first relationship”

How aware are parents about this fact, and how do they make use of their own musicality in their relationship with their children? This study explores lullabies as a communicative event in Norwegian parenting, and their significance in parent-child interaction in early childhood (2-4 years), with particular regard to children’s well-being, bonding and sense of companionship together with musical preferences and behaviour before bedtime. This examination is based on first-hand observations, mainly through parents own descriptions, assumptions and interpretations, encompassing the parental awareness of their own musical, emotional and social resources, musicality in the wide sense of communicating the vitality, meaning, sympathy, motives, modifications and interests of life. The methodological approach consists of collecting data by qualitative interviews, video-recordings, stimulating recall and observations in private homes, allowing the lullaby-event to come to the surface in its authentic and natural setting. Concepts and categories from health-, developmental and philosophical psychology constitute the theoretical framework of this interdisciplinary study. In addition questions pertaining to the psychology of music, musical education and esthetics will be addressed.

Kontakt: Lisa Bonnár