Towards New Sonic Epistemologies

A new issue – volume no.4 – of the international Journal of Sonic Studies (Leiden/Nijmwegen, The Netherlands) has just been released; edited by Marcel Cobussen, Holger Schulze and Vincent Meelberg this volume deals with two fundamental, epistemological and methodological questions of sound studies:

1. How can we approach, analyze, and study sound?
2. How can we disseminate our findings intersubjectively?

Researchers and artists (e.g. Budhaditya Chattopadhyay, Walter S. Gershon, Florian Hollerweger, Marinos Koutsomichalis, Michelle Lewis-King, Katharine Norman, Justin Patch, Holger Schulze Barry Truax, Axel Volmar, Maarten Walraven) explore in 12 articles the broad field between new sonic materialisms on the one end and the reconstruction of auditory or sonic epistemologies on the other end.

Our assumption was: if we approach sonic forms of knowledge in this way, from a new materialist perspective, it might be possible to gain specific knowledge and insight into the possible ways sensory constellations function in reality and how these create thoroughly different but insightful sensory representations of the physical emanations of the world.

With these 12 essays – often erudite, thought provoking, artistic, exploring, and trailblazing – the Journal of Sonic Studies offers versatile tracks to consider and reconsider the epistemological, ontological, and methodological opportunities for sound studies. In other words, please encounter these contributions as an invitation to develop your own ideas concerning this topic: Towards New Sonic Epistemologies.


A brief glimpse into the table of contents:

Budhaditya Chattopadhyay: AUDITORY SITUATIONS
Walter S. Gershon: A SONIC ETHNOGRAPHY OF AN URBAN FIFTH GRADE CLASSROOM
Florian Hollerweger: PUBLIC LISTENING INTERVENTIONS FOR ENCOURAGING AURAL AWARENESS
Marinos Koutsomichalis: ON SOUNDSCAPES, PHONOGRAPHY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SOUND ART
Michelle Lewis-King: THE PULSE PROJECT
Katharine Norman: WINDOW – AN UNDECIDED SOUND ESSAY
Justin Patch: WRITING ETHNOGRAPHY THAT LISTENS
Holger Schulze: SONIC FICTION AS HEURISTIC FOR SOUND STUDIES
J. Milo Taylor et.al.: THE OPENSOUND PROJECT
Barry Truax: FROM EPISTEMOLOGY TO CREATIVITY
Axel Volmar: AUDITORY CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE 19TH CENTURY
Maarten Walraven: SILENCE, RESONANCE, ECHO IN THE ARCHIVE