Pathways to music torture

Abstract

This paper traces the development and logic of several uses of music in connection with torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment along five distinct but interconnected pathways: i. the sensory deprivation pathway, deriving from experiments with psychological torture carried out during the Cold War period; ii. the military tradition pathway, situating the use of music against prisoners in the longer history of music and discipline in the military; iii. the political communication pathway, relating to the central role of musical practices in the formation and communication of political identities, and thus in conflicts surrounding those identities; iv. the humiliation pathway, looking at the larger context of the use of music in both informal and institutionalized practices of mockery and humiliation; v. the power performance pathway, reflecting on the relationship between the torturer and the tortured. Forms of music torture that are discussed in the article include exposure to loud music, forced singing, and the use of music in connection with other forms of enforced physical activity.

Keywords

• torture
• music torture
• cruel
• inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment
• forced singing
• human rights