Soundscapes. Listening to British and American Languages and Cultures

Remapping he literary canon through listening practices means giving the aural dimension of poetry, prose, or simply language a fascinating chance to match the wonders of visual representation. Fiction and storytelling are actually strongly based in the universe of sounds and often involve something very similar to acousmatics, sound design, soundmarks, and sound icons. As a matter of fact, every single page is a soundscape, whether the sounds it contains be realistic, symbolic, or imaginary. This issue collects essays which – by focusing on sounds, noises, voices, music, and silences as they appear in literature (including song lyrics), and with reference to the existing critical and scientific works in the multifaceted field of soundscape studies – reflect on the sonic construction of texts and acoustically deconstruct them. Issues concerning memory, ethnicity, class, religion, and gender are explored.