Questioning acoustemology: an interview with Steven Feld
Rice, T; Feld, S
Date: 12 October 2020
Journal
Sound Studies
Publisher
Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Publisher DOI
Abstract
In this conversation transcript, Tom Rice asks Steve Feld a series of questions
about ‘acoustemology’, a term Steve coined and which has become a key concept
in sound studies. Referring to ‘acoustic epistemology’, a ‘knowing-with and
knowing-through the audible’, acoustemology emerged in the context of Steve’s
work on the Kaluli ...
In this conversation transcript, Tom Rice asks Steve Feld a series of questions
about ‘acoustemology’, a term Steve coined and which has become a key concept
in sound studies. Referring to ‘acoustic epistemology’, a ‘knowing-with and
knowing-through the audible’, acoustemology emerged in the context of Steve’s
work on the Kaluli of Papua New Guinea and their intricate knowledge of the
sounds of their rainforest environment (Feld 2015, 12). It has since been applied
by Steve, and many others, in studies of sound in a wide variety of settings. Tom
asks questions that have arisen as he tries to explore and clarify the implications
of the term. For instance, are acoustemologies invariably culturally embedded, or
can they also be understood to emerge independently of culture? To what extent
are acoustemologies shaped by individual and personal preferences, experiences
and abilities? Is it possible for one acoustemology to end and another begin or do
acoustemologies merely shift in terms of the sounds to which they are orientated?
Answering with illustrations from his own intellectual journey, Steve presents
acoustemology as an open-ended concept which is generative rather than
prescriptive and which invites ongoing empirical research and interdisciplinary
discussion
Social and Political Sciences, Philosophy, and Anthropology
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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