Sign-In
Cart
The Sculpted Ear: Aurality and Statuary in the West
Hardcover
Series: Perspectives on Sensory History, Book 2
Technology & EngineeringGeneral European HistoryMusic Recording & Reproduction
ISBN13: 9780271086927
Publisher: Penn State University Press
Published: Apr 17 2020
Pages: 224
Weight: 1.11
Height: 0.63 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Sound and statuary have had a complicated relationship in Western aesthetic thought since antiquity. Taking as its focus the sounding statue--a type of anthropocentric statue that invites the viewer to imagine sounds the statue might make--The Sculpted Ear rethinks this relationship in light of discourses on aurality emerging within the field of sound studies. Ryan McCormack argues that the sounding statue is best thought of not as an aesthetic object but as an event heard by people and subsequently conceptualized into being through acts of writing and performance.
Constructing a history in which hearing plays an integral role in ideas about anthropocentric statuary, McCormack begins with the ancient sculpture of Laocoön before moving to a discussion of the early modern automaton known as Tipu's Tiger and the statue of the Commendatore in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Finally, he examines statues of people from the present and the past, including the singer Josephine Baker, the violinist Aleksandar Nikolov, and the actor Bob Newhart--with each case touching on some of the issues that have historically plagued the aesthetic viability of the sounding statue. McCormack convincingly demonstrates how sounding statues have served as important precursors and continuing contributors to modern ideas about the ontology of sound, technologies of sound reproduction, and performance practices blurring traditional divides between music, sculpture, and the other arts.
A compelling narrative that illuminates the stories of individual sculptural objects and the audiences that hear them, this book will appeal to anyone interested in the connections between aurality and statues in the Western world, in particular scholars and students of sound studies and sensory history.
1 different editions
Also available
Also in
General European History
Karl Popper - The Formative Years, 1902 1945: Politics and Philosophy in Interwar Vienna
Hacohen, Malachi Haim
Hardcover
The Rise and Fall of Anne Boleyn: Family Politics at the Court of Henry VIII
Warnicke, Retha M.
Paperback
Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection
Green, John
Hardcover
The Lost Empire of Emanuel Nobel: Romanovs, Revolutionaries, and the Forgotten Titan Who Fueled the World
Brunt, Douglas
Hardcover
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa
Hochschild, Adam
Paperback
The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century
Rosenblatt, Helena
Paperback
The Last Titans: How Churchill and de Gaulle Saved Their Nations and Transformed the World
Vinen, Richard
Hardcover
The Treacherous World of the 16th Century & How the Pilgrims Escaped It: The Prequel to America's Freedom
Federer, William J.
Paperback
The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I
Brunt, Douglas
Paperback
Princeton Review AP European History Premium Prep, 25th Edition: 6 Practice Tests + Digital Practice Online + Content Review
The Princeton Review
Paperback
The Fright Before Christmas: Surviving Krampus and Other Yuletide Monsters, Witches, and Ghosts
Belanger, Jeff
Hardcover
Norse Paganism for Beginners: Explore The History of The Old Norse Religion - Asatru, Cosmology, Astrology, Mythology, Magic, Runes, Tarot, Witchcraft
Brought Alive, History
Paperback
The Struggle for Europe: The Turbulent History of a Divided Continent 1945 to the Present
Hitchcock, William I.
Paperback
The Bookshop: A History of Bookselling from the Dawn of Print to the Twenty-First Century
Pettegree, Andrew
Hardcover
Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts
Langlands, Alexander
Paperback
He That Is Spiritual: A Classic Study of the Biblical Doctrine of Spirituality
Chafer, Lewis Sperry
Paperback
The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I
Brunt, Douglas
Hardcover
Oathbreakers: The War of Brothers That Shattered an Empire and Made Medieval Europe
Gabriele, Matthew
Perry, David M.
Paperback
A World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22
Kissinger, Henry a.
Paperback
The Lost History of Liberalism: From Ancient Rome to the Twenty-First Century
Rosenblatt, Helena
Hardcover
A History of Witchcraft: Sorcerers, Heretics, & Pagans
Alexander, Brooks
Russell, Jeffrey B.
Paperback
The Killing Season: The Autumn of 1914, Ypres, and the Afternoon That Cost Germany a War
Cowley, Robert
Hardcover
The Watchmaker's Daughter: The True Story of World War II Heroine Corrie Ten Boom
Loftis, Larry
Paperback
The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain
Menocal, Maria Rosa
Paperback
The Anatomy of Viking Art: A Quick Guide to the Styles of Norse Animal Ornament
Markussen, Jonas Lau
Hardcover
AP European History Premium, Fifteenth Edition: Prep Book with 5 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice (2027)
Roberts, Seth A., M. a.
Paperback
A Light in the Northern Sea: Denmark's Incredible Rescue of Their Jewish Citizens During WWII
Brady, Tim
Hardcover
The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won
Hanson, Victor Davis
Paperback
Greatness and Ruin: Self-Reflection and Universalism within European Civilization
Duchesne, Ricardo
Paperback
A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America: Volume I
Adams, John
Paperback
The Devil's Ointment: A History of Unguents in European Magic and Witchcraft
Boyer, Corinne
Paperback
Princeton Review AP European History Premium Prep, 24th Edition: 6 Practice Tests + Digital Practice Online + Content Review
The Princeton Review
Paperback
The World Hunt: An Environmental History of the Commodification of Animals
Richards, John F.
Paperback
A Book Forged in Hell: Spinoza's Scandalous Treatise and the Birth of the Secular Age
Nadler, Steven
Paperback
Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849
Clark, Christopher
Paperback
The Deluge: The Great War, America and the Remaking of the Global Order, 1916-1931
Tooze, Adam
Paperback
Norse Paganism for Beginners: Explore The History of The Old Norse Religion - Asatru, Cosmology, Astrology, Mythology, Magic, Runes, Tarot, Witchcraft
Brought Alive, History
Hardcover
AP European History Premium, Fourteenth Edition: Prep Book with 5 Practice Tests + Comprehensive Review + Online Practice (2026)
Roberts, Seth A., M. a.
Paperback
Rescue Board: The Untold Story of America's Efforts to Save the Jews of Europe
Erbelding, Rebecca
Paperback
How Not to Be a Basic Peasant: A Medieval Bard's Guide to Living Your Best Life
Mulrooney, Kristen
Hardcover
Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference
Cooper, Frederick
Burbank, Jane
Paperback
The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age
Schama, Simon
Paperback
Families Directly Descended from All the Royal Families in Europe (495 to 1932) & Mayflower Descendants. Bound with Supplement
Rixford, Elizabeth M.
Paperback
Time of the Magicians: Wittgenstein, Benjamin, Cassirer, Heidegger, and the Decade That Reinvented Philosophy
Eilenberger, Wolfram
Paperback
Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused
Dash, Mike
Paperback
The Pursuit of Glory: The Five Revolutions That Made Modern Europe: 1648-1815
Blanning, Tim
Paperback
Monastic Desires: Homoeroticism, Homophobia, and the Love of God in Medieval Constantinople
Krueger, Derek
Hardcover
From Dawn to Decadence: 1500 to the Present: 500 Years of Western Cultural Life
Barzun, Jacques
Paperback
Picturing Landscape in an Age of Extraction: Europe and Its Colonial Networks, 1780-1850
O'Rourke, Stephanie
Hardcover
The Rest Is History: From Ancient Rome to Ronald Reagan--History's Most Curious Questions, Answered
Goalhanger Podcasts
Hardcover
The Lives and Deaths of the Princesses of Hesse: The Curious Destinies of Queen Victoria's Granddaughters
Welch, Frances
Paperback