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. 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.

KEYWORDS:

• Acoustemology
• listening
• sound
• sound studies

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tom Rice

Tom Rice is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Exeter. His book Hearing and the Hospital: sound, listening, knowledge and experience was an ethnographic study of the auditory culture of a London hospital, and he has since studied the sound environments of other institutions including prisons and most recently, zoos. Tom writes on key concepts in sound studies and has also made documentaries about sound for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service. http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/sociology/staff/tomrice/; https://exeter.academia.edu/TomRice

Steven Feld

Steven Feld is Senior Scholar at the School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Anthropology and Music at University of New Mexico. His work in acoustemology ranges from rainforest Papua New Guinea to European towns and city bells to diasporic jazz in West Africa and is equally presented in audio, video, and text publications. www.stevenfeld.net; www.voxloxmyshopify.com