Parigi, l’arte musicale e il diritto.

The Paris events have generated a growing islamophobia in Western countries, linked to the fear of “the other”. Those who are different and who do not fit within a given culture are viewed with suspicion and excluded from society. The fear forces therefor the researcher to look for mechanisms to counter this phenomenon at various levels: psychological, semiotic and legal. Particularly, in the latter field one could question whether the general principle of secularism, which is typical for Western democracies has eroded its duty or whether it can still be considered as a valid measure to govern differences within a society. In this same context we should consider music, which constituted a symbolic target in the terrorists’ attacks. At the same time music is also a powerful symbol of unification and creator of new meanings, both within the institutional as well as in the religious world. For this reason it plays a fundamental role in our lives, namely as an expression of art, as an act of cult deserving legal protection, and last but not least, as an expression of spirituality.