The soundscape as a field

for cultural-anthropological investigation

Master thesis submitted in April 2012 (in German: Die Klanglandschaft als ethnographisches
Feld). Institut fr Europische Ethnologie, Humboldt-Universitt zu Berlin.

Fritz Schlter M.A.

Abstract:

In my master thesis, sound and noise are recognized both as a central element in everyday
life as well as an object of investigation for cultural anthropology. Several different research
approaches are being discussed.

How does the sonic environment or soundscape (Schafer 1977)conceived as a sensuous or

affective geographyshape our environment and life-worlds? How does it affect our
behaviour and attitudes towards the environment? What are the significant features of a
local soundscape? Could there even be different cultures concerning the production and
perception of sound and noise? Which socio-acoustic practices and strategies are actually
involved in the collective orchestration of a given soundscape?

Cultural anthropology is at a key position concerning these questionswhich have been

addressed before by Sound(scape) Studies since the late 1960s, applying a whole range of
different scientific, experimental and artistic strategies. However, attention to the acoustic
aspects of cultural practice is still marginal within cultural anthropology.

In my master thesis I review and compare the most recent, however scattered theoretical
and empirical approaches within cultural-anthropology that decidedly deal with sound and
soundscapes: First of all, and closely following Schafers approach, there is the European
research project Acoustic Environments in Change by Helmi Jrviluoma, Heikki Uimonen
und Noora Vikman (between 1999 und 2011). Secondly, and best known in
ethnomusicology as well as in and Sound Studies, there are Steven Felds works as a sonic
anthropologist (between 1982 and 2011). The main chapter concludes thirdly with a
discussion of Rowland Atkinson's concept of a socially and politically relevant sonic ecology
of the city (between 2006 and 2011).

Learning from Sound Studies, the advantages for cultural anthropology would be threefold:
first of all, a greater awareness of sonic phenomena in everyday life would extend
anthropology's scope of research according to the claims of an Anthropology of the Senses
(Classen, Howes) or a Sensory Ethnography (Pink). Secondly, cultural-anthropological
empirism would profit from methodological enhancementssuch as listening walks
(Jrviluoma et al.), experimental mapping and field recordings. Finally, concerning the (re-
)presentation of its research results, new forms of sonic narrativity could make up a
promising alternative for ethnographic text or film.

The thesis overviews different cultural-anthopological and sociological approaches within an

interdisciplinary field called sound studies. In so doing, it will enable the reader to conceive
and interpret the soundscape as a socially relevant sonic fabric of the everyday.

The text is complemented by more than fifty audio samples and field recordings.

www.sonicagents.wordpress.com