Absent Presences in the Colonial Archive: Dealing with the Berlin Sound Archive's Acoustic Legacies

The Berlin Sound Archive (Lautarchiv) contains a vast collection of sound recordings from the first half of the 20th century, including stories, songs, personal testimonies, poems, glossaries, and numbers. This book explores the archive by focusing on recordings produced under colonial conditions, using sound objects and listening practices to reveal the fragile and inconsistent nature of colonial knowledge. It acknowledges the inability to know everything and emphasizes the importance of accounting for the archives' limited and incomplete condition.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 300 pages
Publication date: 05 October 2022
Publisher: Leuven University Press

The Berlin Sound Archive (Lautarchiv) is a remarkable collection of sound recordings, meticulously compiled for scientific purposes during the first half of the 20th century. These recordings encompass a wide range of content, including stories, songs, personal testimonies, poems, glossaries, and numbers, all preserved on shellac. This book delves into the archive by specifically examining recordings that were produced under colonial conditions.

Absent Presences in the Colonial Archive stands as a groundbreaking historical ethnography, shedding light on a metropolitan institution that played a significant role in the creation and preservation of colonial power and knowledge structures. Through its examination of sound objects and listening practices, the book uncovers the fragility and inconsistency of colonial knowledge, revealing the absent presences of colonial subjects who are often marginalized or overlooked in established national narratives and collective memories.

This publication is proudly labeled as GPRC (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content), ensuring the highest standards of scholarly research and integrity. Moreover, it is available in Open Access, making it accessible to a broader audience and promoting the dissemination of knowledge.

Engaging with the colonial archive necessitates an understanding of the limitations and incompleteness of the records. It goes beyond mere narratives of the past and encompasses the history of the present, as well as the ways in which the past interrupts and shapes our understanding of the world. This book serves as a valuable contribution to the field of colonial studies, offering a fresh perspective on the complexities of the colonial past through the lens of sound.

Weight: 482g
Dimension: 127 x 234 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789462703407