‘A Chamber of Noise Horrors’: sound, technology and the museum

Mansell, James

Abstract

This article examines the 1935 Science Museum temporary exhibition on Noise Abatement, situating it in the sound historical context of inter-war Britain, and making an argument that the ‘way of hearing’ it advanced was part of an attempt to shape auditory perception in the interests of a class-bound culture of acoustic civilization. Further, the article uses this exhibition to mount an argument that museum scholars should consider sound not simply as a medium of engagement, but also as a politically interested and socially active field.

Citation

Mansell, J. (2017). ‘A Chamber of Noise Horrors’: sound, technology and the museum. Science Museum Group Journal, 7(7), https://doi.org/10.15180/170704

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 10, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Mar 15, 2017
• Publication Date: Apr 20, 2017
• Deposit Date: Nov 19, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 18, 2018
• Print ISSN: 2054-5770
• Publisher: Science Museum Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 7
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.15180/170704
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1120839
• Publisher URL: http://journal.sciencemuseum.org.uk/browse/issue-07/chamber-of-noise-horrors/
• Contract Date: Nov 29, 2018