When Sound Becomes Body and Struggle

Sound as a political-feminist, historical, aesthetic, and performative phenomenon is at the center of the rich, thought-provoking, and refreshing anthology Bodies of Sound, which was published last November by the small feminist London-based publisher Silver Press. One of the two editors of the anthology is a co-owner of the publisher, and it is clear that careful thought has been given to the approach to the subject matter. The anthology is not only feminist in its foundation but is also exclusively written by women and non-binary people (judging by the names) – meaning that there are presumably no contributions from male authors.

Strangers meet and play selected personal tracks for one another – almost always ending in tears

The book consists of more than 50 contributions spread across nearly 400 pages, making it a thoroughly charming and weird jumble of interviews, fables, poems, text scores, and quote mosaics, alongside suggestions on how to describe music, advice on spreading feminism by speaking publicly about inspiring women, considerations on worry as grief, and reflections on the nymph Echo in relation to the concept of echo as an acoustic phenomenon. Regarding the latter, the book’s editors describe it as »a book of echoes« and note in their introduction that recurring metaphors in the texts include »mirrors, bells, tongues, doors, clocks, radios, archives, alarms, and ears.«

Ella Finer’s text on acoustic attention focuses on a sound recording she once heard of a swan’s beating heart. Gascia Ouzounian’s text on sonic memories highlights the sound of the Armenian genocide, where Turkish soldiers covered the victims’ screams with the sound of their drums, used as a deliberate military strategy. Hannah Catherine Jones’ text explores the allegedly healing qualities of the 432 Hertz frequency. Meanwhile, composer and DJ Ain Bailey discusses what she calls sonic autobiographies in an interview in the book, explaining her organized listening sessions where strangers meet and play selected personal tracks for one another – almost always ending in tears. Such is the power of music, claims Bailey.

The Reader Left to Their Own Devices – for Better or Worse

I could go on: There are texts about feminist amateur radio communities and the connection between percussion and being or becoming transgender. One of the book’s longest texts, written by Belarusian author and Nobel Prize winner Svetlana Alexievich, focuses on the women of war under the Soviet regime and examines why all the suffering inflicted by regimes and wars never seems to translate into freedom in the end. Related to this is London-based Palestinian writer and researcher Christina Hazboun’s text, »Sonic Strategies in a Palestinian Struggle«, which reflects on the sounds of the May 2021 uprising in Palestine. I hope Hazboun will write new pieces about what has happened since, also from a sonic perspective.

The content of Bodies of Sound is so unusually extensive, multifaceted, and far-reaching

Additionally, the book contains more conventional descriptions of works and portraits of composers such as Aura Satz, who works with the climate crisis using sirens (as seen in the documentary Preemptive Listening, screened at CPH:DOX 2024), and Elaine Michener, who explores the history of enslaved people in a British context. All of this is presented without prior introductions. The reader is truly left to their own devices, which certainly heightened my awareness – both positively and negatively. The content of Bodies of Sound is so unusually extensive, multifaceted, and far-reaching, with texts differing greatly in content, expression, form, approach, and historical, temporal, and geographical anchoring.

For this reason, the editors risk leaving the reader stranded by choosing to let the many texts stand without contextualization. Brief introductory texts would have been helpful to guide the reader from one section to the next. It is, of course, easier to leave things as they are, and the idea of a deeper underlying connection – left for the insightful reader to recognize – has always been strongly romanticized in intellectual circles. I would have appreciated it if the editors had attempted to introduce the texts to make the book more accessible – charm and weirdness notwithstanding.

Gossip, Dreams, and Testimonies

Many of the texts are written by prominent composers within experimental, avant-garde, and electronic music, making Bodies of Sound particularly relevant for readers interested in music. Among the authors are composers such as American Pauline Oliveros (originator of the widely used deep listening strategy), fellow American Tara Rodgers, the American-New Zealander Annea Lockwood, and English Daphne Oram. The book’s standout contribution is a text by the acclaimed queer theorist Sara Ahmed, who also inspired the book’s subtitle, Becoming a Feminist Ear. However, as Ahmed points out, the anthology’s texts are fundamentally about listening, and as the title Bodies of Sound suggests, they focus on listening, speaking, and creating sound as an embodied experience. As the editors write in their introduction: »It is the body that struggles and survives, listens and speaks; and it is the body whose value and vulnerability are at stake in our individual lives and collective endeavor.« Therefore, not all the book’s texts relate to music; some discuss translating poetry, hearing the sound of gossip, becoming aware of sounds in dreams, observing elderly Anishinaabe people listen to the world around them, listening with a "third ear" in conversations, and collecting testimonies in the form of personal accounts of war and disasters.

Most of the texts were written in the past decade, while others are much older. Some have previously been published in journals like The Wire, while others were composed or compiled specifically for this anthology. I can think of texts that were not included but would have fit well. For example, Pauline Oliveros: Given her significance for the editors (as noted in the introduction), it is perhaps unfortunate that she is represented only by a short letter to the writer and activist Kate Millett. An excerpt from her and Fred Maus’ electrifying A Conversation about Feminism and Music (1994) would have been a perfect inclusion, as it would have helped contextualize the anthology’s theme.

I doubt many would feel disappointed once they had it in their hands

A Must-Read for Anyone Interested in Sound

One can choose to embrace the book’s richness and simply enjoy it as it is. I believe it is possible to do so while also critically engaging with the anthology’s feminist premise. The assumption that all texts should be understood through a feminist lens is occasionally stretched too far, as some texts do not directly engage with this aspect. Or is it simply because they are written by women and non-binary people that they are presumed to be feminist-informed? I question this premise, particularly regarding Daphne Oram’s 1960 text. Given my knowledge of her work as a badass electronic music pioneer in postwar England, I am not convinced she viewed her work through a feminist lens, especially since such an approach was not prevalent in 1950s Europe. The fact that she wrote about being a woman in a male-dominated electronic music world does not necessarily make her a feminist.

If I were a supervisor in musicology, I would urge all my students – regardless of their research topic – to get a copy for inspiration

Then there is the question of why the editors rely on a both generic and ahistorical use of the word feminism, which they do not find it necessary to qualify, let alone define. A clarification of how the concept should and can be understood in relation to the many textual contributions could have strengthened the book. For instance, is it a requirement that contributors are not men? Possibly, but the editors remain silent on this matter, thereby ignoring the fact that numerous male writers, composers, authors, and musicians, both within and beyond the West, have incorporated feminist practices into their approaches.

Nevertheless, this book should be read by anyone interested in sound as something more than just music. If I were a supervisor in musicology, I would urge all my students – regardless of their research topic – to get a copy for inspiration. I wouldn’t recommend reading it sequentially from start to finish, as I did, as it was overwhelming and at times exhausting. Fortunately, the book can be read in many other ways: as a handbook, a reference book, a logbook, or a script. I doubt many would feel disappointed once they had it in their hands.

»Bodies of Sound: Becoming a Feminist Ear«, edited by Irene Revell and Sarah Shin, was published by Silver Press in 2024. The book costs £14.99 and can be purchased via the publisher's website.

English translation: Andreo Michaelo Mielczarek. Proofreading: Seb Doubinsky