Auditory Violence : Literary Sounds in Postcolonial Prose Fiction

Abstract

How do literary sounds convey violence in postcolonial literature? And how does the literary imagination of sound generate meaning on a political level? Through close-readings and comparative analyses Auditory Violence examines sonic manifestations of oppression and domination, but also of resistance and subversion in postcolonial texts by four authors – Chingiz Aitmatov, J. M. Coetzee, Frankétienne and Jean Rhys. Their Anglophone, Francophone and Russophone texts problematize the entanglement of sound culture with imperial orders and colonial legacies: By exploring auditory environments, listening practices and modes of sound production, they demonstrate a particular aural sensitivity that reflects and creatively expands sonic knowledge within postcoloniality and beyond.