A recent method of relaxation and sleep is spreading: it is called in several ways – sleep therapy, ear-to-ear treatment, etc. In addition to mobile phone apps, which transmit the sound of the wind in the forest or the sound of ocean waves, some videos on YouTube guarantee people who cannot easily fall asleep a restful sleep thanks to voices and faces (in Italy more often female) that whisper various contents with a sweet and calm intonation, capable of stimulating the so-called autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), a pleasant tingling sensation in various parts of the body accompanied by a state of mental relaxation. The onset and spread of this phenomenon calls for some considerations and ques- tions. That listening to music is a way to relax and feel good is nothing new; espe- cially in the East, the practice of sound for therapeutic purposes is very ancient – just think of the Buddhist mantras, the Tibetan bells, or the “gong baths”. Moreo- ver, let us not forget that literature is full of anticipations of such instruments, start- ing from the use of a “shell” to be placed in the human ear in Ray Bradbury’s fa- mous novel Fahrenheit 451 (and the homonymous film by French director Francois Truffaut), published in the United States as far back as 1953. So what’s new? The novelty is twofold. On the one hand we have the presence of the image along with the sound, which, so to speak, “indicates a way” to compensate for the evident lack of ability to autonomously visualize on the part of the listen- ers/viewers. On the other hand, we have the entry of role-playing – an element not be overlooked in a society that in many ways has transformed adults into children, bringing the age of “play” (and I will not speak here of gambling addiction) into adulthood. In my contribution I propose to investigate the phenomenon, neglecting the partial pornographic drift that is not the subject of my analysis. Rather, I intend to focus on the sonic characteristics of role-playing and problematize it in the light of gender issues and identity construction, analyzing the dream quality and the political and social potential of implicit or explicit story-telling.
Il gioco di ruolo nella ASMR: soluzioni (sonore) per dormire? / Role–play in ASMR, or: A contemporary, controversial lullaby
Alessandra Calanchi
2021
Abstract
A recent method of relaxation and sleep is spreading: it is called in several ways – sleep therapy, ear-to-ear treatment, etc. In addition to mobile phone apps, which transmit the sound of the wind in the forest or the sound of ocean waves, some videos on YouTube guarantee people who cannot easily fall asleep a restful sleep thanks to voices and faces (in Italy more often female) that whisper various contents with a sweet and calm intonation, capable of stimulating the so-called autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), a pleasant tingling sensation in various parts of the body accompanied by a state of mental relaxation. The onset and spread of this phenomenon calls for some considerations and ques- tions. That listening to music is a way to relax and feel good is nothing new; espe- cially in the East, the practice of sound for therapeutic purposes is very ancient – just think of the Buddhist mantras, the Tibetan bells, or the “gong baths”. Moreo- ver, let us not forget that literature is full of anticipations of such instruments, start- ing from the use of a “shell” to be placed in the human ear in Ray Bradbury’s fa- mous novel Fahrenheit 451 (and the homonymous film by French director Francois Truffaut), published in the United States as far back as 1953. So what’s new? The novelty is twofold. On the one hand we have the presence of the image along with the sound, which, so to speak, “indicates a way” to compensate for the evident lack of ability to autonomously visualize on the part of the listen- ers/viewers. On the other hand, we have the entry of role-playing – an element not be overlooked in a society that in many ways has transformed adults into children, bringing the age of “play” (and I will not speak here of gambling addiction) into adulthood. In my contribution I propose to investigate the phenomenon, neglecting the partial pornographic drift that is not the subject of my analysis. Rather, I intend to focus on the sonic characteristics of role-playing and problematize it in the light of gender issues and identity construction, analyzing the dream quality and the political and social potential of implicit or explicit story-telling.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
