Mics in the ears: How to ask people in Cairo to talk about their sound universes

Mics in the ears: How to ask people in Cairo to talk about their sound universes
published in Christine Guillebaud (ed.), Toward an Anthropology of Ambient Sound, New York and London, Routledge, Routledge studies in Anthropology (series), 2017, p. 134-152.
Part 3: Sound Identity and Locality, chapt. 7
ISBN: 978-1138801271
DOI: 10.4324/9781315755045-8
On the publisher’s website: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapt...
PDF File: https://hal.science/hal-01057584

– This chapter is written by Vincent Battesti, but part of this particular research is done with Nicolas Puig.

– Abstract:

The sound dimension of is an essential component of the appreciation of a Cairo neighborhood by its users. The ethnography of sound ambiances received and produced in Cairo (Egypt) must first of all be methodical. To get closer to Cairenes’ everyday experience of the city sound ambiances, and to deal with one of the major difficulties of working on sensory experience as social anthropologists, an original experiment is under way. Various inhabitants made a georeferenced routine trip equipped with binaural microphones. The goal is for users of public space to put sound events or soundscapes (be they received or produced) into words, for a better understanding of specific markers of sensorial universes.

– Presentation of the volume:

This volume approaches the issue of ambient sound through the ethnographic exploration of different cultural contexts including Italy, India, Egypt, France, Ethiopia, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, and Japan. It examines social, religious, and aesthetic conceptions of sound environments, what types of action or agency are attributed to them, and what bodies of knowledge exist concerning them. Contributors shed new light on these sensory environments by focusing not only on their form and internal dynamics, but also on their wider social and cultural environment. The multimedia documents of this volume may be consulted at the address: http://milson.fr/routledge_media

– Sounds illustrating the chapter: https://soundcloud.com/vbat/sets/mi...

– Chapter in open access:

Mics in the ears

Battesti, Vincent, 2017 — « Mics in the ears: How to ask people in Cairo to talk about their sound universes » in Christine Guillebaud (dir.), Toward an Anthropology of Ambient Sound, New York and London, Routledge, Routledge Studies in Anthropology — open access: https://hal.science/hal-01057584