An autoethnographic account of adversity, music and the work of “The 1975”, in the development of music-related post adversarial appreciation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to outline the rationale, both academic and autoethnographic, for the development of the concept Post Adversarial Appreciation (PAA) to include increased music-appreciation as a novel subdomain and to initiate academic discussion regarding experiences of music appreciation during adversity and trauma. Design/methodology/approach This study uses qualitative autoethnographic enquiry to reflect on experiences of increased music appreciation during experiences of adversity and trauma and how such experiences may connect to wider published literature, formulating a foundation for the development of PAA theory. Findings Increased appreciation of music and sources of music during adversity can be profound and perceived as both life-changing and self-affirming. Recent theoretical and empirical research indicates potential eudaimonic motivators for engagement with music which diverges from hedonic themes. This work novelly theorises a connection between presented autoethnographic, ecological and theoretical evidence, finding music appreciation a new subdomain of PAA. Research limitations/implications Autoethnographic enquiry is non-generalisable and thus personal experiences discussed only reflect the individual experiences of the author. Originality/value This paper presents the novel rationale for the inclusion of music appreciation as a subdomain for PAA, as well as a working definition of this subdomain for the first time in literature.