The social world of noise: towards a sociological approach

Abstract

A rather curious social trajectory turned noise into the unavoidable sound environment of modern urbanity. The text analyzes the history of the “social world of noise”, showing how over time its initial estrangement gave way to widespread indulgence and social acceptance of such “unwanted sound” in Murray Schafer’s words. After sustaining the way some artists, in painting, music, and poetry contributed to the social acceptance of noise, the article reports two historical anti-noise initiatives led by the German philosopher Th. Lessing and by the American doctor Julia Rice. Today, the most sensitive sociological effects of noise refer to the recognition of the “other” and the silencing of dissent. The article closes sustaining the way that noise turns into a territory of persistent social disputes calling for accurate socio-logical attention.