The Tagg article focused on sound and music and society, while the Cindy Selfe piece discusses the shift away of oral traditions. It seems as though, ironically, the focus on sound and the sort of end of oral narratives seemed to cross. One emerged, while the other began to disappear around the same time. But now that there is increasing multimodality, technological sound and oral traditions can cross and merge. I think as this increases more people will use it as a rhetorical resource.
I just wanted to make a quick note about Tagg discussing our lack of earlids. I had never thought about that before, but I can't tell you how many times a day I wish I did have earlids.
3 comments:
Hey Meg,
Yes, I did find the reference to earlids to be very stark. I had never considered the lack or presence of earlids.
I think the emphasis on sound that Tagg and Selfe reference may be seen as a contemporary version of oral narratives.
I think sound on its on can certainly tell a story.
this is a little off subject, but your posting reminded me of how oral literacy is often identified as less significant as traditional literacy and the debate between whether or not higher cognitive functions are inherent in the ability to read and write. i don't know where i'm going with this, i had a train of thought and then i lost it. anyway, i often wish i had earlids especially when the dude that lives upstairs is talking to god knows who at 2 in the morning and the whole building has to hear it. i wonder why humans didn't evolve with an ear flap, you know like dogs.
I too often wish I had earlids.
I'm glad that you listened to the Aporee site and think you make an interesting point about the irony of using technology like cell phones to capture the sounds of industrialized society. The mash-up of these sounds with the visual information provided by placing these sounds on a map is also a great example of invoking multiple modalities to contextualize what we are hearing.
Lastly, I agree with you about how interesting it is that oral traditions are finding new ways to be kept alive and to evolve through their intersections with technology.
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