Introduction : Grief. Sonic Expressions. of Loss, Pain, and Sadness.
Kytö, Meri and Groth, Sanne Krogh LU
(2023)
In Seismograf
- Abstract
- This special issue has invited scholars to reflect upon the theme of »grief« in the format of an audio paper. This format, we thought, would offer authors a possibility to present their research in sound, in a way that gives the theme of grief the opportunity to be heard firsthand, not only described in text.
We, the editors, must admit that we prepared ourselves before listening to the audio manuscripts sent to us. Like most people, we often find comfort in, but also experience grief through sound and music. Whether a pop-music tune, an abstract contemporary music piece, ritual singing, a specific soundscape or the physical loudness of a concert, affect, memory and the duration of sound and music often have had an impact on our... (More) - This special issue has invited scholars to reflect upon the theme of »grief« in the format of an audio paper. This format, we thought, would offer authors a possibility to present their research in sound, in a way that gives the theme of grief the opportunity to be heard firsthand, not only described in text.
We, the editors, must admit that we prepared ourselves before listening to the audio manuscripts sent to us. Like most people, we often find comfort in, but also experience grief through sound and music. Whether a pop-music tune, an abstract contemporary music piece, ritual singing, a specific soundscape or the physical loudness of a concert, affect, memory and the duration of sound and music often have had an impact on our mental state.
This preparation turned out to be a false alarm. Regardless of the affective resonances of the works the emphasis and point of departure most definitely in the four pieces published here was on the research of grief, not an individual and sole representation of an affective phenomena. The griefs we’ll meet and learn about in this special issue are ones that are shared among families, relatives and even nations, and they are ones that are reflected, edited, staged and performed. This does not make them less legitimate or consistent, and indeed they do contribute with insights that are of relevance to more than the individual experience. All this probably comes as no surprise for people who do research on negative affects and emotions, but for us there was precaution.
The reasons for grieving today are many. The call-for-papers for this issue mentioned war, disease, social injustice and the climate crisis as sources from which in both public and private lives grievances currently stem from. Paired with pain, sadness, remorse, anger and loss, all the aggravating affects and movements of the soul, grief can manifest in various kinds of sonic expressions. In different cultural contexts expressions of grief can be heard as cries, wails, sobs and mourning, or chiming of bells. Musical genres evolving around grief and sadness are plenty. There are nevertheless various sonic manifestations of grief that are not musical nor performed.
According to the four audio papers selected for this issue, the aesthetics and ethics of grief can swirl around communication in crisis, family grief and shame mingled with popular music, and reviving ancient rituals of mourning, namely lamenting. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9ea0465d-aa2e-4db1-99ac-24bf4a7c99f3
- author
- Kytö, Meri
and Groth, Sanne Krogh
LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023-08-23
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- grief, audio paper
- in
- Seismograf
- issue
- 29
- ISSN
- 2245-4705
- DOI
- 10.48233/SEISMOGRAF2906
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9ea0465d-aa2e-4db1-99ac-24bf4a7c99f3
- date added to LUP
- 2023-12-08 23:39:11
- date last changed
- 2023-12-13 03:06:28
@misc{9ea0465d-aa2e-4db1-99ac-24bf4a7c99f3,
abstract = {{This special issue has invited scholars to reflect upon the theme of »grief« in the format of an audio paper. This format, we thought, would offer authors a possibility to present their research in sound, in a way that gives the theme of grief the opportunity to be heard firsthand, not only described in text. <br/><br/>We, the editors, must admit that we prepared ourselves before listening to the audio manuscripts sent to us. Like most people, we often find comfort in, but also experience grief through sound and music. Whether a pop-music tune, an abstract contemporary music piece, ritual singing, a specific soundscape or the physical loudness of a concert, affect, memory and the duration of sound and music often have had an impact on our mental state. <br/><br/>This preparation turned out to be a false alarm. Regardless of the affective resonances of the works the emphasis and point of departure most definitely in the four pieces published here was on the research of grief, not an individual and sole representation of an affective phenomena. The griefs we’ll meet and learn about in this special issue are ones that are shared among families, relatives and even nations, and they are ones that are reflected, edited, staged and performed. This does not make them less legitimate or consistent, and indeed they do contribute with insights that are of relevance to more than the individual experience. All this probably comes as no surprise for people who do research on negative affects and emotions, but for us there was precaution.<br/><br/>The reasons for grieving today are many. The call-for-papers for this issue mentioned war, disease, social injustice and the climate crisis as sources from which in both public and private lives grievances currently stem from. Paired with pain, sadness, remorse, anger and loss, all the aggravating affects and movements of the soul, grief can manifest in various kinds of sonic expressions. In different cultural contexts expressions of grief can be heard as cries, wails, sobs and mourning, or chiming of bells. Musical genres evolving around grief and sadness are plenty. There are nevertheless various sonic manifestations of grief that are not musical nor performed.<br/><br/>According to the four audio papers selected for this issue, the aesthetics and ethics of grief can swirl around communication in crisis, family grief and shame mingled with popular music, and reviving ancient rituals of mourning, namely lamenting.}},
author = {{Kytö, Meri and Groth, Sanne Krogh}},
issn = {{2245-4705}},
keywords = {{grief; audio paper}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{08}},
number = {{29}},
series = {{Seismograf}},
title = {{Introduction : Grief. Sonic Expressions. of Loss, Pain, and Sadness.}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.48233/SEISMOGRAF2906}},
doi = {{10.48233/SEISMOGRAF2906}},
year = {{2023}},
}