To “listen historically” is to listen with situated ears, to listen from the complex relations between sonic aesthetics and history, and to listen at the junction of politics and aural cultures. This way of listening seeks to further the intersections between Sound and Cultural Studies to bring together these fields’ methodologies, critical approaches, genealogies of thought, and epistemological frameworks. We use R. Murray Schafer’s (1977) term “soundscapes” to highlight the fact that ideological underpinnings cross sound.
This MLA proposal has its roots in the Symposium Transnational Soundscapes: Literary and Sonic Cultures Across the Americas and Iberia (Duke University, 2020), organized by three participants in this working group. Four years later, we would like to foster a larger conversation to interrogate the soundscapes of Spain and the Americas to resonate literally across national borders. We will meet in two sessions of 5 presenters each day. A discussion will follow brief presentations (6 minutes with papers circulated in advance) to explore the common synergies that could lead to a collective publication.