Tractor Unit Acoustemology : Sounds of a Dwelling on the Road

Abstract

In this article I provide an alternative ethnographic “description” of daily life of long-haul drivers. It is based on the assumption of acoustemology and field recording method. Data was gathered during research within truck drivers working for Western European freight companies and who inhabit cabs of their tractors units. Research corresponds with a current trend of anthropology of sound that consider audio-representations as a counterfactual way of production of anthropological knowledge. On the methodological level the main goal of my study was to transgress academic visuality. To accomplish this purpose I have decided to experience an ethnographic fieldwork through sound.

Keywords

• acoustemology
• ambiance
• anthropology of sound
• audioethnography
• dwelling
• mobility
• movement
• road studies