From Soundscape to Meaningscape
Invited paper
Aarhus University
Tuesday 2 june, 2015, 16:20 - 16:40
0.6 Madrid (49)
Abstract:
Throughout evolution the auditory system has been shaped to detect, localize
and identify significant events in the environment. Sounds carry information
about events relevant for the perceiving organism, enabling it to navigate in
the environment, detect prey, avoid potential dangers, etc. The sounds can, in
other words, be considered sign vehicles or meaning carriers and the sense of
hearing can be understood as a tool for gathering information about events in
the surroundings in order to initiate appropriate behavior (chasing, fleeing,
etc.). Insights from biosemiotics, cybernetics and ecological psychology
suggest that perception is intimately linked to action, but this linkage has
been largely ignored in traditional research on human auditory perception. I
argue that interaction potentials play an important role in soundscape
perception. It is well established that individual sounds can carry meaning
for the perceiver, and ecologically informed studies indicate that listeners’
perception of soundscapes is structured by semantic categories related to
events and activities taking place in the heard environment. From the
rudimentary hearing system of simpler organisms to the complex human auditory
system, perception of such events is functional and instrumental; it guides
the perceiver’s behavior by utilizing information about potential interactions
with the environment. With this paper I wish to discuss the notion of a
semiotic dimension of soundscape perception, where soundscapes are considered
as "meaningscapes", complexes of functional auditory signs to be perceived and
acted upon, and by which the perceiver makes sense of the environment.