Description
Book SynopsisAppearing here in English for the first time, Michel Chion's
Sound addresses the philosophical questions that inform our encounters with sound, stimulating our thinking about being open to new sounds and to explore the links between language, technology, culture, and hearing.
Trade Review"Chion's work is refreshing in many ways.... It is clear that Chion lives his topic deeply, and has not simply “researched” it. Alongside the extended theorisation, the book teems with thought-provoking observations, like the best of Jean Baudrillard (who could always be appreciated for his vignettes if not for his theories) or Roland Barthes. How good it is to find that someone else has asked himself why being subjected to one side of a conversation on a mobile phone is even more frustrating than overhearing a two-way conversation in person – and Chion has an answer." -- David Revill * Times Higher Education *
"This work . . . is an excellent addition to the literature on sound. It is a stimulating and thought-provoking book that addresses not only basic philosophical ideas but also highly practical questions that inform the reader about encounters with sound. . . . The notes that are provided at the end of the work offer further details and are extremely useful. The glossary is incredibly valuable, especially in describing the French words the author uses. The bibliography is also extensive. In summary, the book is excellent. Recommended. All readers." -- M. G. Prasad * Choice *
"Michel Chion’s opus is itself a delight to read. . . . His writing miraculously foregrounds sound without fixating upon its objecthood. Organizationally, he provides clarity through schematic listings of key points throughout the essays and a helpful glossary of terms that he has generated throughout his career." -- Shayna Silverstein * TDR: The Drama Review *
"Chion and Schaeffer are part of an active, interventionist, history: they are about how humans seize technologies and put them to undesigned uses, they are about how to dis-alienate the spectacular. Bravo!" -- Tim Hodgkinson * Cultural Critique *
Table of ContentsIntroduction. Closed Grooves, Open Ears / James A. Steintrager vii
Preface to the French Edition of 2010 xxvii
I. Hearing
1. Listening Awakes 3
2. The Ear 16
3. Sound and Time 29
II. A Divided World
4. Voice, Language, and Sounds 45
5. Noise and Music: A Legitimate Distinction? 55
III. The Wheel of Causes
6. The Sound That You Cause: Ergo-Audition 83
7. Sounds and Its Cause: Casual Listening and Figurative Listening 101
8. Sound and What It Causes: Real and Supposed Effects 121
IV. Sound Transformed
9. How Technology Has Changed Sound 131
10. The Audiovisual Couple in Film: Audio-Vision 150
V. Listening, Expressing
11. Object and Non-Object: Two Poles 169
12. Between Doing and Listening: Naming 212
Notes 243
Glossary 265
Bibliography 269
Index 275
