Sound as technologies of the self for feminist pedagogy

ABSTRACT

This paper discusses the possibilities of sound and sonic thinking as feminist pedagogical tools for self-reflexivity, reimagining, and communal awareness. The collaborative reflections of the facilitators of and two participants in the Gender and Sound course that took place within the body of Bilimler Köyü – an alternative educational initiative with a focus on transdisciplinary, collaborative, and ecologic learning – theoretically argue that sonic thinking opens space for the questioning of dominant cultural narratives, identities and structures, and for thinking about possible subject positions beyond those which are already established. Therefore sound, as an umbrella term for the auditory, constitutes technologies of the self that might have the ability to reconceptualize the self, agency and resistance.

KEYWORDS:

• Gendered soundscape
• self-reflexivity
• sonic thinking
• transgressive pedagogy
• sound narrative

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 While acknowledging the diversity of feminist theories, methodologies and pedagogical approaches, this paper prefers the widely used concept of ‘feminist pedagogy’ rather than the plural ‘feminisms’ and ‘feminist pedagogies’ to underline its main philosophy separate from other forms of pedagogy.

2 Some other examples in Turkey are Nesin Matematik and Sanat Köyleri (Nesin Mathematics and Arts Villages), Başka Bir Okul Mümkün (Another School is Possible), Tiyatro Medresesi (Theatre Madrasa).

3 Foucault’s discussion on the technologies of the self can be found in The History of Sexuality (1978), and in essays and interviews; for a comprehensive analysis of how Michel Foucault employed the terms ‘technology’ and ‘technique’ over the course of his intellectual career see Behrent (2013).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nazan Haydari

Nazan Haydari is Associate Professor of Media School at Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey. Her research areas and publications consist of radio studies, feminist media, critical pedagogy, and intercultural communication. Currently, she has been working on the manuscript drawn from the oral history project with women radio broadcasters of TRT (Turkish Radio and Television) from the 1960s to 1990s. She is the co-editor of the Case Studies in Intercultural Dialogue published by Kendall Hunt in 2014. She holds a PhD in Communication and MA in Communications and Development from Ohio University.

Onur Sesigür

Onur Sesigür is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Design at Beykoz University. He has a background in sound and music industry. His research interests include digital cultures, culture industries, popular music and sound studies. He is the co-editor of Re-thinking Research Methodologies special issue of Interactions: Studies in Communication and Culture, 2020, and the author of the book, Playlisting: Collecting Music Remediated published by Routledge in 2021.

Ayça Ulutaş

Ayça Ulutaş holds Ph.D. in Communication from Istanbul Bilgi University and BA degree in Business Administration from Istanbul University and received her Master of Science degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from San Francisco Golden Gate University. Her academic interests include digital media and communication, gender studies and transformative consumer research.

Begüm Irmak

Begüm Irmak received her MSc degree from London School of Economics in Sociology- Contemporary Social Thought in 2011 after graduating from Sabancı University’s Social and Political Sciences Programme in 2010. Until 2015, she worked in an advertising agency as the project leader of an international brand. Currently, she is working as a part-time lecturer at Istanbul Bilgi University and Bahçeşehir University and completed her Ph.D. in Communication at Istanbul Bilgi University. Her research interests include gender studies, media and technology studies and sociology of digital media.