Towards a sonic ecology of urban life: ethnography of sound perception in Cairo

Abstract

This study on sound perception in Cairo uses a methodological procedure described in a previous issue of this journal [11(3)]. The procedure involves equipping inhabitants of Cairo, the Egyptian capital, with binaural microphones that record the surrounding urban sounds during one of their daily journeys (without the researcher). Participants later describe and comment on the sounds while listening to the recording. Analysis of this material allowed us first to establish an organized lexicon in categories. We identified a structured "natural language of sounds". The data obtained reveal covert categories that describe three key domains of urban life: the active city, the city in movement, and the relational city. A principal finding is that sound perception systematically relates sounds to their origin, i.e. both the source and its social situation. This socialization of sound led us to the notion of "sound constructs" as products of an immediate socialization of the perception of sound. Experiment clarifies how perception operates in Cairo, notably through territory differentiation using sonic saliences and soundmarks. Finally, we propose a "sonic ecology" of the city: how residents collectively experience the sound dimensions of their urban territory, navigate between very different territories, recognize them and respond to them.

Reciprocal spaces: The socio‐material life of balconies in urban Egypt

“…They blew the horns of their vehicles, waved hands, and shouted greetings or insults, depending on the situation. The mixture of sounds gives you a sense of the city as “marked by intensity of interactions and by relational density” (Battesti & Puig, 2020, p. 181). Crossing the road in the morning was different from crossing it in the evening on summer days; compared to the bustling evenings, fewer cars and pedestrians frequented the streets in the summer mornings and you could wait to cross until no cars were heading in your direction.…”

The Sound of Silence: An Immersive Approach to Spearfishermen's Ecological Knowledge Along the Dakar Coastline

“…Underwater fishermen are therefore able to contribute to the identification of sounds from aquatic creatures and, in addition, to help document animal behavior and the ecological evolution of the Dakar Sea. Our approach is inspired by the sensory anthropological approach taken by Battesti and Puig that was developed to document sound perceptions of the inhabitants of Cairo (Battesti 2017; Battesti and Puig 2016, 2020). We adapted the tool they used in their study, to free diving for diving descriptions (instead of urban itineraries), and to generate a discourse on the evolving underwater environment.…”

Audio research methods, attitudes, and accessibility theory: Using audio vignettes to elicit attitudes towards sex work

“…The method also informed people's memories and helped them reflect on their own experiences, something that I sought to encourage with my participants as they reflected on what had influenced their attitudes towards sex work. More recent use of audio walks has for example explored the impact of the sounds of costal walks on participant's restorative experiences (Nicolosi et al, 2021), and how residents in Cairo collectively experience the sound dimensions of their urban territory (Battesti and Puig, 2020). This collective body of work has sought to bring about a 'sensory turn' in order to destabilize the hegemony of the visual.…”