Listening through a pandemic

Abstract

What does it mean to listen through and to the pandemic? In intersecting sound studies with COVID-19 studies, this chapter provides an account of listening itself and its relationship to proximity and intimacy during lockdown. The chapter considers several sonic phenomena of the pandemic: the uncanny silence of an urban soundscape, played out against emptied city streets globally during several waves of the pandemic;the noise of the city rising in support of frontline workers, but also in protest against governments;and the lyrics of popular music from indie to hyperpop. By considering sounds and aurality as spaces of becoming, this chapter argues that the sounds of the pandemic offer different horizons for resilience, foregrounding also human flux and change. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Irene Gammel and Jason Wang;individual chapters, the contributors.