Imagining the phonograph, 1877–1888

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the initial impact of the phonograph in Spain, arguing that, even though the device was rarely seen or heard in the country in its first decade of existence, it contributed to stimulating discussion and speculation that drew upon, and at the same time contributed to shaping, existing national discourses on science, technology, and modernity. At the same time, however, other key elements of the early reception of the phonograph elsewhere, such as the issue of the disembodiment of the voice, remained practically unexplored. The chapter covers the first accounts about the invention of the phonograph published in the Spanish press in 1877 and 1878, the range of demonstrations which took place between 1878 and 1882 at the hands of scientists and entertainers, and, finally, the multifarious discourses (in theatrical writing, juridical literature, and other realms) that emerged around the phonograph and its potential uses.