Sonic Ethnography: Identity, Heritage and Creative Research Practice in Basilicata, Southern Italy

Sonic ethnography explores the role of sound-making and listening practices in the formation of local identities in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, using a combination of media to investigate distinctive ways of knowing. It features stunning colour photographs and over an hour of sound recordings and is an essential contribution for those interested in the production of sounds and still images as relational and interactive approaches to fieldwork.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 15 December 2020
Publisher: Manchester University Press

Sonic ethnography presents a compelling case for the significance of sound as a vital element of social life and as an ethnographic form of representation. This volume delves into the role of sound-making and listening practices in shaping local identities in the southern Italian region of Basilicata. By employing an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses sensory anthropology, sound studies, and ethnomusicology, Sonic ethnography showcases how acoustic traditions are created, disrupted, and brought together through shared temporal and spatial experiences. Through extensive research, this volume offers a fresh perspective on soundful cultural performances, including tree rituals, carnivals, pilgrimages, and more informal musical performances, with a particular focus on the interplay between classical ethnographic scholarship from the past century and local heritage politics.

Featuring stunning color photographs and over an hour of sound recordings, Sonic ethnography employs a unique blend of media to explore distinctive modes of knowing, surpassing more traditional ethnographic forms of representation. The book includes two methodological chapters, one on music-making as a creative research practice and the other on photo-ethnography, making it an invaluable resource for those interested in the production of sounds and still images as relational and interactive approaches to fieldwork.

Pioneering anthropologist of sound Steven Feld collaborated on some of the research and contributed an afterword and a soundscape composition to the book.

Weight: 656g
Dimension: 171 x 241 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781526152008