Musicologica Austriaca (Dec 2024)
Discourse Analysis of the Historically Audible: A Cultural-Historical Approach to Sound Recordings from Colonial Contexts
Abstract
In 1877, the invention of the phonograph enabled a new hearing practice that created a bridge between spaces and times. For the first time in human history, it was possible to record sound and replay it independently of its original source. The phonograph was used worldwide, including in regions where people were considered “primitive” according to the Western ideologies of the time. Today, these early recordings of non-European musical traditions are stored in European archives. From early on, they have been studied by scholars or used for cultural projects in museums. A look at the collections of many historical sound archives clearly shows that the colonial era (for Germany especially from 1900 to 1914) was the golden age of this collecting practice. Thus, these sound recordings embody a certain “sensibility” due to their relation to colonialism. In fact, a considerable part of the recordings was produced under hegemonic power relations. But how are they heard today, what stories and discourses do they transmit, and how do we deal with them? Close listening, listening to history, collective listening, and listening to the silences are some of the theoretical-methodological approaches developed in recent years in the context of dealing with historical sound recordings. In this article, I will introduce these approaches and highlight their advantages and gaps. In order to bridge the gaps thus identified, I will introduce “discourse analysis of the historically audible,” a cultural-historical approach to historically sensitive sound recordings. Discourse analysis of the historically audible is a cultural-historical approach to sound recordings from colonial contexts which can facilitate the past-present dialogue between former colonized people and former colonizers. previous article back to index next article
