Sounds play a crucial role in the transmission of information to understand urban landscapes, as well as in the establishment of social spaces and processes creating collective identities. Such a role is relevant also in the ‘sounding’ of ceremonial spaces employing various expressive languages (e.g. ritual, artistic, etc.), by means of mechanisms of construction and transmission of imaginaries and cultural memory. For this reason ‘sounds’ work as forms of knowledge about places and contexts, and tell us more about the role of music in the description of urban space and in the elaboration of sound ‘maps’. The contemporary debate on the historical soundscape studies focuses on the reconstruction of urban soundscapes, by means of an interdisciplinary approach through the investigation of archival documents and iconographic-musical material in order to outline the deep relationships between sounds and the city. Moreover, analysing the interconnection between images, visual storytelling and performing arts contributes to the safeguarding and the enhancement of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and needs to aim – today more than ever – at promoting new forms of ethical, responsible and sustainable innovation (see Horizon Europe 2021-2027 programme). This paper offers some preliminary remarks on the results achieved by the OPHeLiA (Organizing Photo Heritage in Literature and Arts) project carried out at the University of Catania. More specifically, the project aims at reconstructing a map pertaining to the cultural landscape of a historic district of Catania (i.e. San Berillo), based on an enquiry that highlights the ‘sense of place’ through the visual, literary, musical and performative layers of the urban space. The digital and multimedia analysis of textual, sonic and photographic documents enables to verify how the up-to-date digital instruments can be helpful to recover, reconstruct and – if needed – re-envisage soundscapes in the visual age, by “mapping” the city through sounds and images.

'Sounding the Space: Soundscape and Construction of the Imaginary

DE LUCA M.;SANFRATELLO G.
2021-01-01

Abstract

Sounds play a crucial role in the transmission of information to understand urban landscapes, as well as in the establishment of social spaces and processes creating collective identities. Such a role is relevant also in the ‘sounding’ of ceremonial spaces employing various expressive languages (e.g. ritual, artistic, etc.), by means of mechanisms of construction and transmission of imaginaries and cultural memory. For this reason ‘sounds’ work as forms of knowledge about places and contexts, and tell us more about the role of music in the description of urban space and in the elaboration of sound ‘maps’. The contemporary debate on the historical soundscape studies focuses on the reconstruction of urban soundscapes, by means of an interdisciplinary approach through the investigation of archival documents and iconographic-musical material in order to outline the deep relationships between sounds and the city. Moreover, analysing the interconnection between images, visual storytelling and performing arts contributes to the safeguarding and the enhancement of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and needs to aim – today more than ever – at promoting new forms of ethical, responsible and sustainable innovation (see Horizon Europe 2021-2027 programme). This paper offers some preliminary remarks on the results achieved by the OPHeLiA (Organizing Photo Heritage in Literature and Arts) project carried out at the University of Catania. More specifically, the project aims at reconstructing a map pertaining to the cultural landscape of a historic district of Catania (i.e. San Berillo), based on an enquiry that highlights the ‘sense of place’ through the visual, literary, musical and performative layers of the urban space. The digital and multimedia analysis of textual, sonic and photographic documents enables to verify how the up-to-date digital instruments can be helpful to recover, reconstruct and – if needed – re-envisage soundscapes in the visual age, by “mapping” the city through sounds and images.
2021
historical soundscape, musical ritualities, space for performance, urban musicology
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/516450
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