Germany in the loud twentieth century : an introduction

199 Pages·2012·3.345 MB·English

by  Florence Feiereisen, Alexandra Merley Hill

Germany in the Loud Twentieth Century
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Germany in the Loud
Twentieth Century
An Introduction
Edited by Florence Feiereisen
and
Alexandra Merley Hill
1
1

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Germany in the loud twentieth century : an introduction / edited by Florence Feiereisen
and Alexandra Merley Hill.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-975938-5 (alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-19-975939-2 (alk. paper)
1. Germany—Civilization—20th century. 2. Sound—Social aspects—Germany—History—20th century.
3. Loudness—Social aspects—Germany—History—20th century. 4. Space—Social
aspects—Germany—History—20th century. 5. Music—Germany—20th century—History and criticism.
6. German literature—20th century—History and criticism. 7. Sound in literature. 8. Germany—Intellectual
life—20th century. 9. National characteristics, German—History—20th century.
I. Feiereisen, Florence. II. Hill, Alexandra Merley.
DD61.8.G465 2012
943.087—dc22 2011008720
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
To my father, a terrifi c listener
A.M.H.
To Leo, my litt le noisemaker
F.F.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Contributors xi
Tuning in to the Aural Ether: An Introduction to the Study of German Sounds 1
Florence Feiereisen and Alexandra Merley Hill
SECTION ONE: New Sounds in the Twentieth Century: Sounds, Noise, Silence
1. Escaping the Urban Din: A Comparative Study of Th eodor Lessing’s A ntilärmverein
(1908) and Maximilian Negwer’s O hropax (1908) 19
John Goodyear
2. When Only the Ears Are Awake: Günter Eich and the Acoustical Unconscious 35
Robert G. Ryder
SECTION TWO: Defi ning Space through Sound: Batt lefi elds and Concert Halls
3. Th e Sonic Mindedness of the Great War: Viewing History through
Auditory Lenses 51
Yaron Jean
4. From Seat Cushions to Formulae: Understanding Spatial Acoustics in
Physics and Architecture 63
Sabine Von Fischer
SECTION THREE: East and West: Sounds in the Shadow of the Wall
5. From the Boiler Room to the Hotel Room: Sound and Space in
Wolfgang Hilbig’s D as Provisorium (2000) 81
Curtis Swope
6. Berlin Sounds: Audible Cartography of a Formerly Divided City 95
Nicole Dietrich
SECTION FOUR: Th e Politics of Sound: Walls with Ears
7. Sound and Socialist Identity: Negotiating the Musical Soundscape
in the Stalinist GDR 111
David Tompkins
8. Audibility Is a Trap: Aural Panopticon in Th e Lives of Others (2006) 125
Christiane Lenk
SECTION FIVE: Soundscapers of the Millennium: Sound Art and Music Sounds
9. Sound Art — New Only in Name: A Selected History of German Sound
Works from the Last Century 141
Brett M. Van Hoesen and Jean-Paul Perrott e
10. Ghett os, Hoods, Blocks: Th e Sounds of German Space in Rap and Hip-Hop 157
Maria Stehle
Select Bibliography and Further Readings 175
Index 179
Bonus track online at www.oup.com/us/GermanyintheLoud20thCentury
[ viii ] Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Th e publication of any book necessarily involves the eff orts of many people, and we would
like to take the opportunity to single out some of those people.
First and foremost, we would like to thank our contributors for their thought-provoking
research and for their enthusiasm, which fueled their and our work on this book over the
course of several years. A special thank you goes to our editor at Oxford University Press,
Norman Hirschy, for championing the project throughout the revision process and for hold-
ing our work to his exacting standards. Our anonymous readers provided insightful feedback
that changed the way this book took shape.
Th anks also to our home institutions of Middlebury College and the University of
Portland. An Arthur Butine Faculty Development Grant from the University of Portland in
the summer of 2010 made uninterrupted editing possible at a critical phase. Our colleagues
at both institutions (as well as at Williams College and University of Massachusett s Amherst)
supported us throughout the various stages of this project.
Finally, thanks to both our families.