Questioning acoustemology: an interview with Steven Feld

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 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