Theory about Sound and Radio Studies: A Proposal of Dissemination

Abstract

In this article, I explore different approaches to sound as a technology materialized in radio. My purpose is to discuss the intersection between technology and art in order to understand how the arrival of radio had an impact on the intellectual and cultural production across the twentieth century. The theoretical discourse around radio is transversal to the pedagogic and sociological fields; however, the study of the influence of radio in the construction of the idea of “culture” (and its nuances of “high” and “low” culture) sometimes goes unobserved by theoretical and literary criticism. For that reason, I seek to indagate on how radio is present in the thought of theorists who, historically, have created a theoretical apparatus that we could call “global” in relation to the technologies of sound. Travelling across Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, I intend to create a theoretical cartography of the presence of radio in the global culture in order to propose a potential “bottom-up” approach to how literary criticism can nourish from the concepts provided by radio and the academic insights that have been done in relation to its production and reception.