An outline of the narrative grammar of electronic dance music

Sep 11, 2026

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Electronic dance music (EDM) is argued to follow a parallel structural organization to that proposed for cartoons in hierarchical narrative grammar. The analysis connects both systems through general cognitive mechanisms governing narrative tension and release, rather than modality-specific rules. Formal notions from visual narrative analysis, including an Establisher–Initial–Peak–Release template, are mapped to EDM using an Intro/Breakdown–Buildup–Core–Outro/Cut structure, with operational definitions for Breakdown, Buildup, and Core.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time7 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Narrative grammar parallels

Mapping visual narrative templates to EDM

Operational definitions and analytical tests

UCLA UCLA Previously Published Works Title An outline of the narrative grammar of electronic dance music Permalink [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2138v3n3](https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2138v3n3) Authors Grosz, Patrick Georg Solberg, Ragnhild Torvanger Katz, Jonah et al. Publication Date 2025 DOI 10.1177/10298649251321709 Copyright Information This work is made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, available at [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) Peer reviewed [eScholarship.org](eScholarship.org) Powered by the California Digital Library University of California An outline of the narrative grammar of electronic dance music Patrick Georg Grosz University of Oslo, Norway Musicae Scientiae 1–20 © The Author(s) 2025 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[DOI: 10.1177/10298649251321709](DOI: 10.1177/10298649251321709)[ ](DOI: 10.1177/10298649251321709)[journals.sagepub.com/home/msx](journals.sagepub.com/home/msx) Ragnhild Torvanger Solberg Independent Researcher, Norway Jonah Katz University of California, Los Angeles, USA Mai Ha Vu University of Toronto Mississauga, Canada Alexander Refsum Jensenius University of Oslo, Norway Pritty Patel-Grosz University of Oslo, Norway Abstract We argue that electronic dance music (EDM) exhibits a parallel structural organization to that which has been proposed for cartoons (comics) after the model of hierarchical structure proposed in theoretical linguistics. According to this parallel, both systems are governed by general cognitive mechanisms for the narrative organization of tension and release, which are not modality-specific. We show that notions from visual narrative analysis, such as an Establisher–Initial–Peak–Release template, can be applied directly to EDM tracks as an Intro/Breakdown–Buildup–Core–Outro/Cut template. In doing so, we focus on how to formally define and operationalize relevant notions such as Breakdown, Buildup, and Core. As part of our analysis, we show that the scene-setting Establisher segments of visual narratives map onto two distinct categories in EDM: they correspond to intro sections at the beginning of a track and to breakdown sections in the middle of a track; we strengthen the analogy to visual narrative analysis by introducing refinements such as a pre-drop break that often occurs at the end of a buildup segment. To adjudicate between competing hypotheses on the hierarchical structure of a given EDM track, we demonstrate that Corresponding author: Patrick Georg Grosz, Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1102 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway. Email: [p.g.grosz@iln.uio.no](p.g.grosz@iln.uio.no) analytical tests from linguistics and visual narrative analysis can be successfully applied. By introducing these analytical tools, this article sets the stage for further explorations in the linguistically informed analysis of the structure and meaning of EDM. Keywords dance, electronic dance music, syntax, music, linguistics, visual narratives, Super Linguistics Background: From visual narrative grammar to electronic dance music Recent years have witnessed the emergence of a body of work that extends tools that stem from—and are inspired by—formal linguistic theory to other research domains, such as visual narrative and music (Patel-Grosz et al., 2023). A central goal of this methodological extension is to reveal cognitive mechanisms that are found to be at play in varied objects of study, for example, the communicative mechanisms that underlie visual narratives, music, gesture, and dance. One prominent finding is the emergence of grouping-based structural organization, which gives rise to a rudimentary syntax in various study objects. For

FAQs

What is the central claim about electronic dance music in this article?

EDM is argued to have a structural organization analogous to the narrative grammar proposed for cartoons, governed by cognitive mechanisms of tension and release.

How are concepts from visual narrative analysis applied to EDM tracks?

The article maps an Establisher–Initial–Peak–Release template to an EDM template using Intro/Breakdown–Buildup–Core–Outro/Cut, linking specific segment types across modalities.

What analytical goal do the authors pursue to adjudicate between hypotheses?

They demonstrate that linguistic and visual narrative analytical tests can be used to evaluate competing hierarchical-structure hypotheses for a given EDM track.

Sep 11, 2026

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