Auditory and spatial regimes of United States colonial rule in Baguio, Philippines

Skelchy, Russell P.

Abstract

Control over geographic and sonic space was integral to the United States’ imperial project in the Philippines. This article explores how the creation of the hill station of Baguio was achieved both spatially and sonically through the work of US urban designers such as Daniel H. Burnham. In the early twentieth century, Burnham’s plans for Baguio (and Manila) inspired a model of auditory and spatial planning that colonial administrators hoped to replicate across the archipelago. In this context, I explore how the design and control of Baguio’s auditory environment was part of a wider process to transforming the rural military outpost into a comfortable resort city for U.S. expatriates, members of the Filipino elite, and others to escape the noise, heat, disease and insurgency of Manila and the lowland areas. Furthermore, the article explores Baguio as an “auditory contact zone” where sound configured and framed the interactive dimensions of the imperial encounter between Filipinos and US expatriates. As I argue, the reengineering of urban spaces, such as Baguio, under the US colonial administration was integral in establishing sound as a material symbol of imperial power.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 26, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Dec 25, 2020
• Publication Date: Jul 3, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 26, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 26, 2021
• Journal: Sound Studies
• Print ISSN: 2055-1940
• Electronic ISSN: 2055-1959
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 187-205
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20551940.2020.1857621
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5352510
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20551940.2020.1857621
• Additional Information: Peer Review Statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope.; Aim & Scope: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=rfso20; Received: 2020-06-18; Accepted: 2020-11-26; Published: 2020-12-25