ABSTRACT
The use of “soundscape” is so prevalent at this point in writings on sound and music, literature, art, history, media, identity, the environment, engineering, commerce, and travel—Jonathan Sterne calls it “the most enduring spatial figure in sound studies”—that it seems odd to pause to reflect on it (Sterne 2012: 91). Newbies to the field (you know who you are) likely have come across “soundscape” and perhaps even adopted it in their work, thinking its meaning was self-evident and stable and its connotations unremarkable. The purpose of this chapter is not entirely to disabuse anyone of these notions, since it is inevitable, as well as democratic, that niche vocabulary migrates from its local origins to more common parlance, and the progression of “soundscape” certainly follows that path. Rather, I intend to show that there is a longer history of soundscape than we might realize and to recount some of the ways soundscape has both evolved and stirred debate. For it is a term that, surprisingly to casual and even seasoned students of sound, has a habit of finding its way into new contexts and provoking strong responses. After reading this chapter, should you draw upon some version or variation of “soundscape” in your own writing or conversation about sonic matters, you should be able to do so better informed of its origins, development, and implications, and better prepared to engage with them if you so choose.
