[Discussion] CFP: Sonic Interventions (The Netherlands) (10/1/04; 3/29/05-3/31/05)

[sule tarakcioglu]

SONIC INTERVENTIONS
Pushing the Boundaries of Cultural Analysis

Amsterdam, March 29=9631, 2005

Confirmed Keynote Speakers:

Douglas Kahn, author of Noise, Water, Meat: A History of Sound in the
Arts and Director of Technocultural Studies, University of California at
Davis.

Emily Thompson, author of The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural
Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America, 1900-1933, and
Visiting Scholar in Science, Technology, and Society at MIT.

The Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA) invites proposals for
an international workshop, SONIC INTERVENTIONS, to be held from March
29-31, 2005 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. This interdisciplinary
conference will be dedicated to exploring the cultural practices,
aesthetics, technologies, and ways of conceptualizing sound, noise, and
silence. Sound is a mental impression, a penetrating sensation, a
transmitted disturbance that may be structured or chaotic, narrative or
non-narrative, organic or technologically produced, communicative, and
even politically charged. Despite the undeniable force of sound in
cognition, communication, culture, and our everyday environments, the
impact of sound, especially in its non-musical variants, tends to be
ignored, or is, at least, under-theorized. Consequently, those aural
practices that help investigate issues of cultural history and analysis
are also neglected.

It was not until the 1990s that an =93auditory turn=94 in the humanities
occurred. Since then, scholarly interest in the exploration of sound and
its phenomenology, in voice, in the poetics of sound in culture,
history, and in cultural politics (Rose, 1993), in the formation of
acoustic communities and soundscapes (Truax, 1984), and in the links
between sound, space, and affective life, continues to grow. Both
=93silence=94 and =93noise=94 have intricate and sometimes complex relati=
ons
with =93sound,=94 and in this conference we would like to explore precise=
ly
these relations. Attempts to theorize these concepts should pay
attention to the historically and culturally dependent ideological
underpinnings that provide =93silence=94 and =93noise=94 with political, =
moral,
aesthetic, and social d/evaluations.

In our visually dominated culture, sounds and orality are often thought
of in opposition to images and the written word. Following the tradition
of the postmodern practice of questioning binary constructions in
knowledge claims, we will attempt to move beyond theoretical dichotomies
(between the visual and the sonic, the oral and the literate, as well as
the separation of analyses of xobjects from those of events). We would
like to receive submissions that depict the crossings and negotiations
that are taking place between these formerly bounded concepts within the
specific thematic settings of the following panels:

- Sound Practices and Events
The theorization of sound as event as opposed to the notion of sound as
text (Altman, 1992) is a response to the development of sound in
expanding cultural and economic networks. In contemporary culture, sound
circulates as both aesthetic experiences and commercial products
(Deleuze/Guattari, 1992) between live performances and recordings. It
comes at us from performance spaces and concert halls, as well as
shopping malls and living rooms. Acknowledging the inextricable and
complex relations between culture and sound, we invite contributions
that analyze sound practices/events as diverse as rap, hip hop, poetry
slams, mega dance events, experimental music, radio plays, MTV, and
(interactive) sound installations in public space.

- Sound and the Moving Image
Audio and visual images, although ubiquitous, have not, until recently,
been theorized together in complex and relational ways. But thinkers
ranging from David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson (Film Art, 1979), to
Michel Chion (Audio-Vision: Sound on the Screen, 1994), offer terms that
attempt to capture the reality of the =93audiovisual=94 combination. This
area, however, has been dominated by work about music in film (Kalinka,
1992; Gorbman, 1987; Bruce, 1985 et al.). Although we do not wish to
preclude this topic, we would particularly like to encourage
presentations on other sounds in (early) cinema, television, and new
media. We specifically invite case studies that critique concepts and
issues in the current discourse.

- Bring in the Noise
Douglas Kahn defines =93noise=94 as =93an abstraction of sound=94 and con=
tends
that =93significant noise=94 is a =93legibility of an apparent
intelligibility=94 which brings about more rather than no communication
(Kahn, 1999). But noise also carries the notion of being nothing but
=93sonic dirt.=94 The definition of =93dirt=94 as =93matter in the wrong =
place=94
points to the fact that =93noise=94 too depends heavily on the context, a=
nd
the ideology, that surrounds it. For this section, we especially invite
presentations that illustrate the relativity of =93noise=94 and its de-
and/or re-evaluations, and talks that explore its potential and also its
limits as an instrument of political intervention. We also request
papers that theorize the possible functions of noise (in works of art,
in political acts) depending on its degree or structure, and its varying
relations to sound and silences.

- Silences
Since John Cage=92s famous experience in the anechoic chamber, silence
defined as absence, has been challenged and rethought to =93that which we
hear, but do not apprehend=94 (Morris, 1997). A nuanced view,
characterized by a relational quality between silence and sound, has
gained acceptance. Silence may be viewed as part of a negative phase in
the process of creation or coming to voice, or an inability to listen to
that which one hears. Attempts at theorizing silence or muteness have
most notably been made in feminist discourse that joins, or questions,
the link between women and silence (Hoving, 2001 and Johnson 1998).
Postcolonial studies have also theorized silence in terms of the
subaltern=92s inability to speak, or rather, to be heard (Spivak, 1988,
2000). Not only subjects, but also discourses, can be silenced through
naturalizing acts that privilege a discourse as The Truth, where
violating and violent erasures occur. We invite papers that explore the
themes of power and po!
litics, listening and hearing, with regard to all kinds of silences.

- Soundscapes: Sound, Space, and the Body
Considerable attention has been given to the influences between
acoustics and architecture, and how they bring about the =93soundscapes o=
f
modernity=94 (Thompson, 2002). The relation between the sonic and the
spatial in installation art has been explored in some detail (Pichler,
1998, Leitner, 1998), while special attention has been paid to the
audience=92s resonating bodies (Leitner, 2003). Recently, theater and
dance studies have drawn attention to the role of bodies in perceiving
sound as =93time-based acoustic-geometric space.=94 The body has been
theorized as disciplined and transformed through sound, and is
instrumental in the construction and stabilization of identity, as
concepts such as performance, repetition (Butler, 1997), and affect have
shown. In addition to presentations on sound and space in contexts as
diverse as urban planning, architecture, technology, installation art,
and sculpturing, we would also like papers that focus on the resonance
of sound within bodies, th!
e positioning of bodies in sonically defined space, and bodies as a site
or means of sound-production.

- Orality
Orality is a sonant medium, a holistic, sophisticated communication
having to do with the power of the voice, speech utterances, and body
movement, performed and conveyed from one person to another (Foley,
1991). It occurs in the moment, and yet it connotes memory, an active
reconstructing of the past in new, present contexts. It has been
contrasted to literature, which is considered to be a silent, solitary,
and visual medium. The =93verbal art,=94 of orality, however, has long be=
en
influenced by the technology of writing. Relations between orality and
literature have been asserted through some of its oldest genres, the
traditional oral epic, and the drama. Orality and literacy are now
viewed as part of a continuum, as opposed to binary opposites. Recent
manifestations of this genre crossing have been asserted in some African
literature, and Caribbean =93nation language=94 (Brathwaite, 1984)
formulations, and in hypertext and multimedia theorizations. More
recently, the emergence o!
f new media has had a profound effect on our literate societies bringing
about the current state of =93secondary orality=94 (Ong, 1982), rendering
culture significantly oral/aural once again. We request presentations
that reflect the fluid and dynamic interactions, between orality and the
written word. Paper topics may also include orality and its
adaptations/transformations through electronic modes of communication
(television, telephones, computers, video and audio recordings, radio, et=
c).

- The Sonic in the =91Silent=92 Arts
Contrary to appearances, =93none of the arts is entirely mute=94 (Kahn,
1999). This section is dedicated to bringing out the soundful aspects in
arts such as literature, painting, sculpture, and photography.
Literature has an oral dimension and hence a direct connection with
sound. It has been conceived of as an acoustic event (Bakhtin, 1984) and
scholarly work on the =93phonotext=94 (Garrett, 1990) has teased out subt=
le
forms of sonic presence in literature. In sculpting, one of its
traditions has developed into a new form of artistic practice (sound
installation), which not only embraces sound, but also works with it as
one of its vital elements. In painting and photography, sound has not
only been famously represented, but also formulated as a starting point
for the artist=92s creative process/the viewer=92s reception. In this
section, we particularly wish to invite papers on works of art that deal
with sound in =93silent art.=94 Presentations can focus on sound as that
which has been =93t!
ranslated=94 by the =93silent=94 work of art from the sphere of the aural=
 to
the sphere of the visual. Topics may also be on representation, the use
of metaphors, and/or evaluation of sound as =93the excluded=94 in the wor=
ks
of the =93silent=94 arts.

- Sound Technologies and Cultural Change
Many sounds reach us through the mediation of technology. This mediation
is not a neutral means of transmission, but may have an enormous impact
and alter the cultural xobject and its context significantly, as the
introduction of sound to cinema has shown. New technologies such as MP3
open up new possibilities to preserve and conserve sound, and may
privatize public space through mobile sound technologies (Bull, 2004).
We welcome both historical and current papers on the relation between
developments in sound technology and cultural change. Possible topics
include ring tones and youth culture, the audio book and the =93reading=94
experience, and home cinema sets, and cinephilia. In addition, we invite
contributions that deal with the cultural impact of the extended
possibilities for the preservation and playing of sounds in cultural
practices and techniques such as sampling.

# # #


Proposals will be selected according to their relevance to the topics of
the conference. The workshop format is designed to stimulate discussion
in the panels. For this purpose, participants will be asked to send the
final version of their papers (no more than 4000 words) by January 21,
2005. We shall strictly adhere to this deadline since we will prepare a
reader for each of the panels in advance, to be circulated before the
conference. Instead of =91reading=92 their papers, participants will give=
 a
short summary of their work and make connections with other people=92s
contributions in the panel.

This conference is the latest in a series of ASCA graduate conferences
and is inspired by the 2003-2004 theory seminar on =93World Memory, Affec=
t
and Trauma, and Sound=94 organized by Mieke Bal.

Please send your one-page proposal and a short CV, by October 1st, 2004
to the ASCA office: asca@hum.uva.nl, Dr. Eloe Kingma (managing Director
ASCA), Spuistraat 210, 1012 VT Amsterdam, www.hum.uva.nl/asca

Organizing Committee: Dr. Sylvia Mieszkowski, Ward Rennen, Joy Smith,
and Marijke de Valck

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