Author Description
What does sound, whether preserved or lost, tell us about nineteenth-century wartime? Hearing the Crimean War: Wartime Sound and the Unmaking of Sense pursues this question through the many territories affected by the Crimean War, including Britain, France, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Poland, Latvia, Dagestan, Chechnya, and Crimea. Examining the experience of listeners and the politics of archiving sound, it reveals the close interplay between nineteenth-century geographies of empire and the media through which wartime sounds became audible--or failed to do so. The volume explores the dynamics of sound both in violent encounters on the battlefield and in the experience of listeners far-removed from theaters of war, each essay interrogating the Crimean War's sonic archive in order to address a broad set of issues in musicology, ethnomusicology, literary studies, the history of the senses and sound studies.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This work investigates how the sonic landscape of the Crimean War shaped nineteenth-century perceptions of empire, conflict, and the limits of historical documentation. Author Gavin Williams, a scholar in musicology and sound studies, utilizes a multidisciplinary framework to analyze how wartime sounds were recorded, archived, or silenced across diverse geopolitical territories. By examining the intersection of battlefield violence and domestic listening practices, the book argues that the auditory experience of war is integral to understanding the broader political and cultural history of the era.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of sonic archives across Britain, France, Turkey, Russia, Italy, Poland, Latvia, Dagestan, and Chechnya.
- Methodologies for interpreting the politics of sound preservation and archival absence.
- Interdisciplinary approaches combining musicology, ethnomusicology, and literary studies.
Scope Limits
- The text does not provide a traditional chronological military history of the Crimean War.
- It does not focus on the technical engineering of nineteenth-century sound recording devices.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars in the field of sound studies recognize this volume as a significant contribution to the sensory history of nineteenth-century conflict. Experts frequently note the academic density of the prose and its effectiveness in bridging the gap between musicology and imperial history.
Page Count:
324
Publication Date:
2019-01-07
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
0190916745
ISBN-13:
9780190916749
History
Military History
Musicology
Sound Studies
Cultural History
Sound
Nineteenth century
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