Sounds of the city: the soundscape of early modern European towns
Contenu
Titre
Sounds of the city: the soundscape of early modern European towns
Urban History
Résumé
In European towns of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, the sounds people heard were very different from those of today. Yet the
difference goes much deeper: whereas today we try to escape city noise, for the inhabitants of
early modern towns sound served as a crucial source of information. It formed a semiotic system,
conveying news, helping people to locate themselves in time and in space, and making them part of
an ‘auditory community’. Sound helped to construct identity and to structure
relationships. The evolution of this information system reflects changes in social and political organization and in attitudes towards time and urban space.
centuries, the sounds people heard were very different from those of today. Yet the
difference goes much deeper: whereas today we try to escape city noise, for the inhabitants of
early modern towns sound served as a crucial source of information. It formed a semiotic system,
conveying news, helping people to locate themselves in time and in space, and making them part of
an ‘auditory community’. Sound helped to construct identity and to structure
relationships. The evolution of this information system reflects changes in social and political organization and in attitudes towards time and urban space.
Pages
5-25
Créateur
David Garrioch
volume
30
numéro
1
Date
2003/05
Langue
en
doi
10.1017/S0963926803001019
issn
1469-8706, 0963-9268
Titre abrégé
Sounds of the city