The Politics of Soundscapes: Between Phenomenology and Poststructuralism Open Access

Abstract

This dissertation argues that R. Murray Schafer’s notion of the “soundscape” provides philosophers with rich resources for thinking about place, power, and the politics of sound. Specifically, I question how Schafer’s concept can be taken up and re-deployed in interesting, complex ways that depart from its intended purposes and productively complicate (and exceed) Schafer’s original vision. Bringing philosophy to bear on Schafer’s work, the project explores two central questions. First, what does a phenomenological reconstruction of the soundscape render salient? Second, what does a poststructuralist reconstruction of the soundscape render salient? The dissertation thus includes an implicit argument about methodology; to adequately think soundscapes –how they operate and the possibilities they afford and preclude– one needs to destabilize some of the presumed dichotomies between poststructuralism and phenomenology, gesturing instead towards their various resonances. In this way, the project fosters a sort of reciprocal exchange, insofar as sound studies can help us retune our approaches to phenomenology and poststructuralism, and phenomenology and poststructuralism can help us better understand sonic phenomena and our experiences of being-in-sonic-worlds. I conclude by demonstrating how my critical reinterpretation of the soundscape provides philosophers with powerful conceptual tools for thinking about the fate of place and human agency in sonic registers. 

Table of Contents

Introduction

Soundscape: A Brief History of the ConceptSoundscape's ProliferationMethodology and Chapter OutlinesChapter 1

Soundscape PhenomenologyThe Subject Critique and the Euclidean CritiqueResponse: Soundscape as Phenomenological Topology Conclusion Spectrostitches – After Louisa Bufardeci

Chapter 2

Auditory Culture and the Ontological Turn: A Theoretical Divide “Sound Studies” vs. “Auditory Cultural Studies”: Rethinking the Sound Theory Divide Perspectivally Response: A (Critical) Phenomenology of the Soundscape and Situated Sonic Agency Concluding Thoughts: Sounding Critique "Sam Hall," The Corby's (2000)

Chapter 3

Schafer and Soundmarks Soundmarks as Orientations: Husserl and Empfindnisse Keening: The Irish Lament for the Dead Deleuze, Sense, and Subjectivity Concluding Thoughts Listening to Beethoven’s Symphony No 8, R. Murray Schafer 

Chapter 4

Listening and Hostile Soundscapes Nancy, Schaeffer, and the Hearing/Listening Divide Mooney, Active Synthesis, and Passive Synthesis Nancy, Schafer, and Listening in/with Hostile Soundscapes Conclusion The Last Call

Chapter 5

Silence: I Am Sitting in a[n Emergency] Room The Politics of Silence: Schafer, Cage, and the Politics of “Nothingness” I am Sitting in A[n Emergency] Room: Soundscapes of Silence Concluding Thoughts Conclusion

Bibliography

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Philosophy
Degree	Ph.D.
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Philosophy
Keyword	sound studies critical phenomenology poststructuralism soundscape phenomenology
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	John Lysaker, Emory University
Committee Members	Cynthia Willett, Emory University Noelle McAfee, Emory University Kevin Karnes, Emory University Ernesto Blanes-Martinez, Emory University

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