The queen is dead; long live the queen? Hearing voices and sounds beyond the human

Abstract

Any (re)turn to sound to be radical must displace the human voice as the source of authenticity and raison d’etre of communication and argumentation studies and instead turn to both the ubiquitous mediascapes and cacophonous voices of the earth that compose the aural architectures that form, deform, and transform us. Such a move opens up the possibilities of engaging sound in its myriad manifestations. This essay suggests that opening ourselves to being startled by other sounds calls for a sound turn that abandons nostalgic dreams of speech and voice and explores the always already mediated voices and sounds of tech soundscapes and the many-voiced landscapes we dwell in. Such a sound turn will hear different orations, recognize other speakers, and analyze worlds infused with infinite and strange intelligences, providing creative opportunities that will refigure our imaginations.

Abbreviations
SCA	=	Speech Communication Association
NCA	=	National Communication Association.

Keywords:

• Soundscapes
• technosoliloquy
• voice
• logocentrism
• mediation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 From a cultural studies perspective Sterne provides a critique of the privileging of orality. See Sterne 2011.

2 Gunn, “Speech is dead; Long live speech,” 359.

3 Peters provides a compelling history of this haunting idealization (1999).

4 Honoring Corax (Greek-crow), a murder is a group of crows.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kevin Michael DeLuca

Kevin Michael DeLuca is Professor in the Dept. of Communication at the University of Utah. The question he has een engaging for too many years is how technology mediates human-nature relations. The current manifestation involves exploring the role of images and social media in environmental activism, especially in China. He is the author of numerous essays and the book Image Politics: The New Rhetoric of Environmental Activism.

Mariam Betlemidze

Mariam Betlemidze is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). Aside from teaching and research activities, she advises CSUSB independent student newspaper the Coyote Chronicle. Her areas of interest include poststructural media theory, social change and multimedia journalism production. Prior to her graduate career, Dr. Betlemidze worked as a journalist in her home country of Georgia, where she helped co-found non-profit organizations GO Group Media and JAM News.