Abstract

Led by the iconic Ian Curtis, Joy Division remains one of the most influential bands to emerge in the British Post-Punk Scene. In spite of Joy Division’s relatively short existence, their unique sound and distinct iconography have had a lasting impact on music fans and performers alike. This book disassembles the band’s contribution to rock music.

Based on up-to-date original research, Heart And Soul brings together established and newly emerging scholars who provide detailed examinations the many layers of this multi-faceted and influential band and their singer, the late Ian Curtis, in particular. Given Joy Division’s complexities, the book draws upon a wide range of academic disciplines and approaches in order to make sense of this influential band.

This vibrant, provocative and essential book presents 15 new perspectives on Joy Division and 21^st-century life. Punkishly challenging many familiar assumptions about Joy Division and their mythology, Heart and Soul brings together an international range of scholars, artists and musicians to inspire fresh ways of listening to (and thinking about) one of Europe’s most enduringly influential bands.

Dr. James McGrath, Senior Lecturer in Literature and Cultural Studies, Leeds Beckett University

These essays ripple together like radio waves. They invite ghosts like a family tomb. Their sensitivity to time and place clears the cloud of myth. Their imaginative depth and varied approaches to Joy Division open up the sounds, visions and feelings that continue to resonate so powerfully.

Nabeel Zuberi, Associate Professor in the Department of Media and Communication at the University of Auckland
Eoin Devereux is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Martin J Power is a Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Aileen Dillane is a Lecturer at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick, Ireland.

Heart and Soul takes you on an intimate and critical journey inside and outside Joy Division and is groundbreaking in its sensitivity, insight and sheer voluptuousness. The volume offers a cascade of interdisciplinary approaches focusing on the public and personal nature of the suicide of Ian Curtis, and how it shaped the band both before and after that iconic tragedy and their subsequent metamorphosis into New Order. This book will not offer redemption but a creative recovery of a very human story with energy.

Shane Blackman, Professor of Cultural Studies at Canterbury Christ Church University

This stunning collection provides essential insights into a lesser known, yet highly significant segment of British popular and post punk music history. With keywords like hauntology and psychogeography the book is a treasure trove full of amazing and inspiring perspectives, ranging from the socio-political history of 1970s Britain and the Manchester soundscape to the medical analysis of suicide and epilepsy treatment.

Britta Sweers, Professor of Cultural Anthropology of Music at the University of Bern