• Suggestions of Movement: Voice and Sonic Atmospheres in Mauritian Muslim Devotional Practices

    Author(s):
    Patrick Eisenlohr (see profile)
    Date:
    2018
    Group(s):
    Anthropology, Historical Soundscape Studies, Music and Sound, Religious Studies
    Subject(s):
    Sound--Study and teaching, Affect (Psychology), Islam, South Asia, Phenomenology
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Mauritius, Atmospheres, Sonic religion, South Asian Islam, Voice, Sound studies, Affect
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6W867
    Abstract:
    In this article I make a case for an analytic of atmospheres as a way to understand the seemingly ineffable yet powerful effects of vocal sound on listeners in an Islamic setting. Focusing on the recitation of devotional poetry in honor of the Prophet Muhammad among Mauritian Muslims, I seek to bring together neo-phenomenological approaches to sonic atmospheres with recent anthropological research on the voice that seeks to overcome the opposition of discursive signification and sonic materiality. Detailed examination of sonic events shows that sonic atmospheres enact suggestions of movement that go beyond the metaphorical. Arguing against theories of sonic affect that take the sonic to be an asignifying material flux, I seek to demonstrate that vocal sound’s meaningfulness is internal to the processual nature of its material forms. Keywords: Voice, sound, atmospheres, Islam, Mauritius, South Asia, affect.
    Metadata:
    xml
    Published as:
    Journal article     Show details
    Pub. DOI:
    DOI: 10.14506/ca33.1.02
    Publisher:
    Society for Cultural Anthropology
    Pub. Date:
    2018-2-28
    Journal:
    Cultural Anthropology
    Volume:
    33
    Issue:
    1
    Page Range:
    32 - 57
    ISSN:
    0886-7356,1548-1360
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    All Rights Reserved
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