Bearing Witness to Violence Through Noise: A Critical Exploration of Runzelstirn & Gurgelstøck’s Affective Curriculum

Woods, Peter

Abstract

This paper explores the nature of earwitnessing, or the act of bearing witness through sound, via noise. Employing Thompson’s (2017) definition of the term, I argue that noise holds the pedagogical potential to address critiques of bearing witness and pose a challenge to violent relations within the broader milieu. I do so by placing Thompson and other’s affective theorizations of sound in conversation with writings on affect in education. I then introduce scholarship on the educative potential of bearing witness to illustrate how noise can respond to the political shortcomings of witnessing by creating a pedagogical opening to critically reimagine affective economies. Finally, I ground this exploration within the album Runzelstock & Gurgelstirn by Runzelstirn & Gurgelstøck. Through the intentional deployment of noise, the album embodies the curricular potential of earwitnessing as a means to reckon with the affective relations that undergird violence.

Citation

Woods, P. (2024). Bearing Witness to Violence Through Noise: A Critical Exploration of Runzelstirn & Gurgelstøck’s Affective Curriculum. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 39(1b),

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 5, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Oct 1, 2024
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 9, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 1, 2024
• Journal: Journal of Curriculum Theorizing
• Electronic ISSN: 1942-2563
• Publisher: PKP Publishing Services
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 39
• Issue: 1b
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/31157371
• Publisher URL: https://journal.jctonline.org/index.php/jct/article/view/1231