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The Silencing of the World: Early Medieval Soundscapes and a New Aural Culture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2021

Nira Pancer*
Affiliation:
University of Haïfa

Abstract

While ancient texts contain many descriptions of soundscapes, early medieval literature remains largely silent. How can we explain the dwindling references to sound following the passage from antiquity to the early Middle Ages? Does this “silencing of the world” point to an alteration of the “objective” soundscape induced by changes in the material and physical environment, or does it indicate a deeper shift in the aural culture of the period? If there is reason to suppose that the decline in noise can be partly explained by an overall change in infrastructures, this transformation cannot account for the growing scarcity of sound references in the literature of the time. In order to understand this phenomenon, one must focus on the didactic character of hagiographic literature and on the theological motivations of its authors, whose goal was to sensitize their flock to a “sacred sonography.”

Information

Type
The History of Silence
Copyright
© Éditions EHESS 2021

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