Theorizing Sound Writing PDF
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Theorizing Sound Writing Edited by Deborah Kapchan T H E O R I Z I N G S O U N D W R I T I N G Wesleyan University Press Middletown, Connecticut Wesleyan University Press Middletown CT 06459 www.wesleyan.edu/wespress © 2017 Wesleyan University Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designed by Mindy Basinger Hill Typeset in Minion Pro Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kapchan, Deborah A. (Deborah Anne) Title: Theorizing sound writing / edited by Deborah Kapchan. Description: Middletown, Connecticut : Wesleyan University Press, [2017] | Series: Music/culture | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016030957 (print) | LCCN 2016038984 (ebook) | ISBN 9780819576644 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780819576651 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780819576668 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Musicology. | Ethnomusicology. | Sound (Philosophy) Classification: LCC ML3797 .T46 2017 (print) | LCC ML3797 (ebook) | DDC 780.72—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016030957 5 4 3 2 1 Cover illustration: Fatma Benkirane. CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii The Splash of Icarus: Theorizing Sound Writing/Writing Sound Theory Deborah Kapchan 1 PART ONE WRITING SOUND THEORY 1. Musicology, Performativity, Acoustemology Suzanne G. Cusick 25 2. Acoustic Palimpsests J. Martin Daughtry 46 3. Writing the Magnified Musicking Moment Michelle Kisliuk 86 PART TWO MEMOIR AND METAPHOR AS METHOD 4. Listening to Resonant Words Alex Waterman 117 5. Sound Commitments: Extraordinary Stories Tomie Hahn 138 6. Traffic Patterns David Henderson 142 7. In My Solitude: Jazz Song as “Sound Writing” Carol Muller 163 PART THREE THEORIZING SOUND WRITING 8. Women Out Loud: Religious Performance in Islamic Indonesia Anne K. Rasmussen 191 9. “Where the Transcendent Breaks into Time”: Toward a Theology of Sound in Afro-Cuban Regla de Ochá Katherine Johanna Hagedorn, 216 10. Almost Imperceptible Rhythms and Stuff Like That: The Power of Affect in Live Performance Ana Pais 233 PART FOUR LISTENING AND WITNESS 11. Deadly Soundscapes: Scripts of Lethal Force and Lo-Fi Death Deborah Wong 253 12. Listening Acts: Witnessing the Pain (and Praise) of Others Deborah Kapchan 277 Afterword: Sound Properties of the Written Word Michael Jackson 294 About the Contributors 309 Index 315 Acknowledgments The original idea for this volume was inspired by my reading of a special issue of the journal Anthropology and Humanism, entitled “The Art of Ethnography: Narrative Style as a Research Method.” Edited by Russell Sharman, the writers in this issue (who included Paul Stoller, Kirin Narayan, Ruth Behar, and Edith Turner, among others) began from a simple premise: style creates knowledge. They didn’t put it that simply; however, their volume brought attention to the fact that the way we write—the genres and styles we employ—is in fact a mode of world making. Of course, Bakhtin said as much, as have others. The authors in this volume, however, sought to raise the bar for academic, and in particular, ethnographic writing, while at the same time questioning the relation of style to method. Most of the authors were relating the method of embodied ethnography to styles of writing, making analogies between the two orders of mediation. How- ever, this inspired me to think of the implications of writing style as a method itself. And to take it further, to reconsider the relation and limits of sound and writing, sound method and sound theory. What’s more, I was interested in how sonic forms of knowledge might transform pedagogies in the academy. Before it was a volume, Theorizing Sound Writing was a double roundtable event at the Society for Ethnomusicology meetings in Mexico City in 2009. The response was enthusiastic, and in the spring of 2010, my then colleague Jason Stanyek and I applied for funding from the New York University Humanities Center, which subsequently provided support for two years of fructuous meet- ings with colleagues and advanced graduate students from New York University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania and the City University of New York Graduate Center. I thank Jane Tylus, the director of the center, and Aysa Berger, for providing the forum for such rich discussions during two years. Jason Stanyek, my colleague in the Music Department, co-directed this working group. His mark in the volume is indelible as are the ideas spawned by the collective. He has been an ideal colleague, friend and collaborator, and we sorely miss him now that he has taken his new position at Oxford University. I feel privileged to have had the chance to work with him. My colleague Martin Daughtry and I subsequently collaborated on a graduate seminar called The Politics of Listening in the spring of 2013. The energy and ideas generated in that class (and in hours of discussion as Martin and I walked to and from our respective sons’ elementary school) enriched my life beyond what words can describe and continue to do so. I also extend my thanks to all the participants in the Theorizing Sound work- ing group, composed of colleagues and advanced graduate students from across disciplines and universities. I am not exaggerating when I say that our meetings have been some of the most stimulating experiences of my career. Thinking with, rather than against, such brilliant minds around the table has been a tremendous honor. In particular, I give heartfelt thanks to my inspiring students (many now colleagues), Ana Chavez, Serap Erincin, Ana Pais, Alex Waterman and Charmy Wells for volunteering their time and energy with such care and enthusiasm. viii Acknowledgments Theorizing Sound Writing
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