Reverberations of Chernobyl

Kohl, Philipp (2025): Reverberations of Chernobyl. Sonic Appropriations of an Anti-Auditory Space. In: Rode-Breymann, Susanne und Ullrich, Martin (Hrsg.): Beyond the Human Voice. Dystopische Soundscapes in den Künsten. Cultural Animal Studies, Bd. 23. Heidelberg: J.B. Metzler. S. 269-287

Abstract

The article discusses the aesthetics of reverberation in sonic appropriations of Chernobyl since the 2000s. A territory abandoned after the reactor catastrophe in 1986, the Chernobyl zone of exclusion has become a unique acoustic space which sound art and sound design have explored in its dystopian qualities – as a negative reflection of Soviet utopias of nuclear power on the one hand, as an anti-auditory space not created for listening on the other. The works bring to the fore features of sonic spaces that are the least desirable from the perspective of acoustics – excessive reverb and diffusion of the human voice. Among them are Jacob Kirkegaard’s piece 4 Rooms (2006), Hildur Guðnadóttir’s soundtrack for the HBO miniseries Chernobyl (2019) and Volodymyr Savin’s virtual instrument Pripyat Pianos (2019). These works will be analyzed against the backdrop of auditory poetics of (Post-)Soviet literature and cinema (Aleksievich, Tarkovsky, Romm).

• Dokumententyp: Buchbeitrag
• Fakultät: Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften > Department 2 > Slavische Philologie
• Themengebiete: 800 Literatur > 890 Andere Literaturen
• ISBN: 978-3-662-72029-5
• Ort: Heidelberg
• Sprache: Englisch