Listening to the sounds of war: an interview with Michel Chion

Abstract

Our aural memory is deeply connected to the physical and sensorial circumstances of listening. In the case of war, the act of listening is associated with specific places and emotions, but also to sound materiality and technological advancements in warfare. Do sounds of war leave particular traces on the people who heard or listened to them? How can audionarratives or sound descriptions from written sources shed light on the course and characteristics of armed conflicts? How can listening attitudes be strategic or inform us about sound sources on the battlefield? This interview with Michel Chion outlines the answers to these questions as it examines the role of language, fiction and listening in understanding the phenomenon of war.

Keywords:

• Listening attitude
• sounds of war
• audionarrative
• sonic violence
• aural memory