[Discussion] CFP: Sonic Interventions: Pushing the Boundaries of Cultural Analysis (10/8/04; 3/29/05-3/31/05)

[sule tarakcioglu]

Revised Call for Papers:
Addition of another keynote speaker and extended
deadline for submission.


SONIC INTERVENTIONS
Pushing the Boundaries of Cultural Analysis

Amsterdam, March 29=9631, 2005

Keynote Speakers:

Douglas Kahn, author of Noise, Water, Meat: A History
of Sound in the Arts (1999), 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 (2002), and visiting scholar in
the program in Science, Technology, and Society at
MIT.

Fred Moten, author of In the Break: The Aesthetics of
the Black Radical Tradition (2003), and Associate
Professor of English, and the Program in American
Studies, and Ethnicity, University of Southern
California.

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), in political interventions
and inter-cultural communication (Said, 1991), and in
the links between sound, space, and affective life,
continues to grow. More recently, postcolonial
perspectives have begun to open a rich terrain in
which to explore political dimensions in relation to
sound, for example, =93acoustic exoticism,=94 tourism, and
third-world soundscapes. Other areas in need of
further research with regard to sound and cultural
analysis are the economic dimensions and its workings
in transnational processes, as well as sound in
multicultural settings; the call of the Imam in
Western societies, for example.

Both =93silence=94 and =93noise=94 have intricate and
sometimes complex relations with =93sound,=94 and in this
conference we would like to explore precisely 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. Issues, such as
how and when sound becomes defined as noise, the
ownership and control of soundscapes, and the policing
of these areas, should be explored. For instance, the
strategic use of classical music played in public
places in order to deter the so-called =93bad element,=94
is an example of how sound becomes an important factor
in the political charging of space.

Western cultures are thought to be predominantly
visual, while other societies may place more
importance on the acoustic dimension. Despite the fact
that human beings develop hearing in the womb before
the capacity to see, our belief in a visually
dominated culture prevails. Sounds and orality are
often subjugated to the visual and/or theorized 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
objects 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, as well as noise and silence in film (for
example, the use of ambient noise in cinema instead of
complete silence). 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 contends 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 and 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/refusal
to listen to that which one hears. Attempts at
theorizing silence or muteness have been made, most
notably, 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 politics, 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 of 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, the 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 been 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, and African-American literature, also
Caribbean =93nation language=94 (Brathwaite, 1984)
formulations, and in hypertext and multimedia
theorizations. More recently, the emergence of 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, etc).

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 subtle
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 =93translated=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 works 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 object 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.

				#		#		#

Please send your one-page proposal and a short CV, by
October 8, 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
	=09
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, Affect and Trauma,
and Sound=94 organized by Mieke Bal.

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


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