TY - JOUR

T1 - Sonic relations and bulging spheres

AU - Petersen, Sandra Lori

PY - 2021

Y1 - 2021

N2 - When sound passes from one apartment to another in multi-story housing, it may seem to merely be a matter of acoustic waves moving through built material. Or, it may seem to be a question primarily of a one-way transaction from an inhabitant producing sound towards a neighbor receiving this sound. In this article, I show how acoustic waves passing between apartments often move more than built material. I suggest to conceptualize the auditory connection between neighbors as sonic relations made up of concrete sounds as well as a range of more abstract emotional layers, elements of personal histories and interpersonal conflicts. Through the exploration of the accounts of two neighbors living in an old building in Copenhagen, I show how the sonic relation between them can be understood as interfering homely-personal spheres that shape both of them.

AB - When sound passes from one apartment to another in multi-story housing, it may seem to merely be a matter of acoustic waves moving through built material. Or, it may seem to be a question primarily of a one-way transaction from an inhabitant producing sound towards a neighbor receiving this sound. In this article, I show how acoustic waves passing between apartments often move more than built material. I suggest to conceptualize the auditory connection between neighbors as sonic relations made up of concrete sounds as well as a range of more abstract emotional layers, elements of personal histories and interpersonal conflicts. Through the exploration of the accounts of two neighbors living in an old building in Copenhagen, I show how the sonic relation between them can be understood as interfering homely-personal spheres that shape both of them.

M3 - Journal article

VL - 22

JO - Journal of Sonic Studies

JF - Journal of Sonic Studies

SN - 2212-6252

IS - 22

ER -