Sonic Persuasion, Reading Sound in the Recorded Age by Greg Goodale (University of Illinois Press, 2011). 208 pages. ISBN: 978-0252036040 (hardback). £56. ISBN: 978-0252077951 (paperback). £17.99
About the reviewer: Sam Coley is Radio Degree Leader and Senior Lecturer at the Birmingham School of Media. He has worked as a Creative Director in the New Zealand radio industry and has been a media trainer for the BBC World Service, the charity CARE International and the Prison Radio Association. Sam is also a freelance documentary producer who has recently produced content for BBC WM, Absolute Radio and the Xfm network. In 2010 he was nominated as a finalist in the 'Best On-line Producer' category of the UK Radio Academy’s Production Awards and in 2011 was nominated in the 'Best Music Special' section of the Sony Radio Academy Awards.
E-mail: Sam.coley@bcu.ac.uk
The ability to record and playback sound has existed for over a hundred and thirty years. Perhaps it’s the relative old age of this technology compared to its more youthful, visual cousins film and television that has made the study of sound overlooked in terms of scholarly publications. Whatever the reason, it would seem that academics have tended to favour the moving image and more recently the internet over audio. However, this book helps to redress the balance with a fascinating exploration of how sound can in effect be 'read' as a form of aural writing.
... a welcome addition to the emerging field of sound culture studies
Greg Goodale is assistant professor of communication studies at Northeastern University and his book is a welcome addition to the emerging field of sound culture studies. He addresses the lack of sonic scholarship with a thorough investigation of audio tropes, sonic manipulation and shifting oratory styles that draw from recorded examples dating as far back as the marketing of Edison’s automatic phonograph in 1888.
Goodale’s analysis draws attention to the rich meaning laden within the accents, articulation and phraseology of the language and music we hear - along with the background noise that often accompanies them. He points out that our ears can perceive events the eye cannot, thanks to their ability to hear simultaneous sounds from all directions.
Sonic Persuasion will certainly be appreciated by sound theorists and those studying the early days of broadcasting. Because of the admirably wide-ranging subject matter, there’s only a limited amount of space available for the analysis of radio. However, scholars of the medium will still find much of interest. As you might expect, Goodale references famous broadcasters such as Edward R. Murrow and Orson Welles. He also investigates the meanings behind well-known recordings like Billie Holiday’s 1939 release 'Strange Fruit'. Early radio serials such as The Shadow and Amos and Andy are known for their overt racism, but Goodale offers an interesting perspective by exploring this in terms of the supposed 'blindness' of the medium. Political academics will no doubt appreciate the detailed analysis of the oratory styles of American Presidents and how audio has been used as a key political propaganda tool, instilling fear and mistrust in listeners with surprising effectiveness. Even the use of sound effects in cartoons featuring Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner get an in-depth analysis.
Conveying the subtle nuances of sound with printed words is clearly problematic. It’s a situation much like the overused comparison of writing about music being akin to 'dancing about architecture'. However, it is this conundrum which forms one of the central tenets of the book; sound carries far more meaning than the written text can ever hope to convey. To his credit, Goodale draws from examples that can be found without too much searching online. Thereby providing readers with the opportunity to hear the audio being assessed for themselves.
Sonic Persuasion is the first in the University of Illinois Press series: Studies in Sensory History. The project aims to publish and promote 'work on the history of the senses from ancient times to the twenty-first century.'
It seems somewhat fitting that a publication focusing on sound should mark the beginning of this ambitious series, since hearing is the first of our senses to develop in the embryo. Goodale’s exploration of sound and its ability to be 'read' is certainly a very good place to start. As he points out in the book: 'one can never close ones ears.'
Sam Coley