Social sonic practices. The urban audiosphere in the practices of D/deaf and hearing people

Abstract

ABSTRACT Based on the results of research on multisensory experience of a city carried out with the participation of sensorily diverse people, the article discusses the possibilities offered by an approach based on the premises of social practice theory for understanding and studying the urban audiosphere. Three auditory fields of analysis of social sonic practices are identified, through and in which it is generated, processed and reproduced: 1) sound as a context and trigger of specific practices – practising in sound, 2) sound as an integral element of social practices – practising through sound, 3) sonic practices as autonomous social practices. The objective of the article is to discuss, using examples and taking into account the aforementioned fields of analysis, the sonic practices of hearing and non-hearing people, point to their meanings in generation and understanding of the urban soundscape, and propose improvements to the research methods for better diagnosis of them. Analysis of the urban audiosphere from the point of view of practices can provide a new perspective by going beyond the horizon of social ideas on the sounds that form it and demonstrating the diverse systems and stream of activities in which the understanding of it is reproduced.