*CFP* "SOUND STUDIES, SOUNDSCAPES, AND SOUND ART OF THE BALKANS", SPECIAL ISSUE, JOURNAL OF SONIC STUDIES

City sounds and sounds of nature; sounds of progress and nostalgic sounds; sounds of revolution and change, and sounds of restauration; sounds deliberately produced or emerging unintentionally, serving a disciplinary function or expressing forms of freedom; musical as well as non-musical (functional) sounds; sounds of war and sounds of friendship.

How do the Balkans sound? How can their sonic ambiances be characterized? What can be heard there? How should we listen to them, experience them, affect and be affected by them? What is their political, social, religious, ethical, economic, aesthetic influence or meaning? How do Balkan sound artists respond to these influences and meanings? How are sound studies developing in South-Eastern Europe?

The Journal of Sonic Studies is searching for scholarly and artistic contributions that deal with the connections and relationships between the history, culture, society, and politics of the Balkan countries and the production, distribution, and reception of sounds, noises, and silence. 

The broader aim of this special issue is to establish “sound” as an analytical category that provides us with challenging perspectives on and a new understanding of this part of Europe. Therefore, our call does not focus on a particular historical period or research methodology, but seeks to bring together scholars and artist-researchers who share an interest in Balkan sound studies, soundscapes, and/or sound art.

Themes for submission may include but are not limited to:

• The sonic identity of any Balkan space 
• Differences between various Balkan soundscapes or differences with West-European soundscapes 
• Balkan (contemporary) sound art 
• The role, position, and function of music in contemporary South-East European societies 
• Sonic histories of the Balkans 
• Listening cultures of Balkan countries 
• Politics of sounds or the sounds of politics in the Balkans 
• The role of silence in Balkan societies and/or discourses 
• The role of sounds in Balkan religious practices 
• Rural “versus” urban soundscapes in Balkan countries

Guest editor

The Croatian musicologist Diana Grguric will act as guest editor of this special issue.

Deadline

Potential contributors are invited to submit completed essays by January 10, 2021.

For more information, or to submit an “exposition”, please contact Marcel Cobussen (MA.Cobussen@hum.leidenuniv.nl) and/or Diana Grguric (dgrguric@ffri.hr)

The Journal of Sonic Studies is a peer-reviewed, online, open access journal providing a platform for theorists and artist-researchers who would like to present relevant work regarding auditory cultures, to further our collective understanding of the impact and importance of sound for our cultures. The editors welcome scholarly as well as artistic research and also expect all contributions to have a firm theoretical grounding. Priority is given to contributions that explicitly use the Internet as a medium, e.g. by inserting A/V materials, hyperlinks, and the use of non-conventional structures. JSS invites potential contributors to use the Research Catalogue as the platform in which the submission is presented (see Research Catalogue). Other submission guidelines can be found here.