Kaiak (Jan 2024)
Da He a SF6
Abstract
In artistic practices, the voice – whether in singing or speech – also manifests through interaction with various technologies, whose applications range from architecture to electroacoustics and post-production techniques. These technologies reflect specific techno-cultural habits and protocols. Starting from the idea that media and technology not only mirror a certain knowledge structure but also contribute to its creation, this paper offers acritical reading of the relationship between the voice and its mediation: amplification, recording, and reproduction. These processes have opened new horizons for expressing what could be called a “radical eroticism” of the phoné, which characterizes certain vocal practices situated at the extreme periphery of vocal behavior or anatomy, often outside of language. The voice is understood here as the residue of a combination of various factors and their possible interactions – comprising a complex system of muscle movements, voluntary and involuntary neural actions, postural habits, cultural influences, social interactions, and desires that are both somatic and symbolic (Smith 2008; Sun Eidsheim 2019). By analyzing several case studies, this paper questions the idea of a "natural voice", often used to define the modal register and normalize certain vocal identities at the expense of others. The aim is to lay bare how extreme vocal postures often embody specific cultural meanings that are deeply influenced by the very systems through which the voice is transmitted, whether it is medialized or not. These systems allow the voice to resonate in unexpected ways, shaping unforeseen subjectivities. Consider, for example, how Louis Armstrong’s hoarseness (Teachout,2009), allegedly a symptom of persistent leukoplakia, has contributed more than anything else to affirming his place in the global imagination as the quintessential Black male performer of the 20th century.
