Sounding Change: Whales, Environmental Activism, and Politics of Listening

Marie Comuzzo, Brandeis University (Italy)

(This paper is part of the "Relations beyond Resources: Interspecies Peace and Intergenerational Justice" panel.) How does the relationship between humans and whales change through sound, today? And how is environmental activism brought forward through interspecies sonic exchanges? Sound has an important role in shaping our lived experience. Increasingly, scientific and humanist studies are showing the interconnectedness between sonic landscapes and regeneration. Countless examples, including music, sonic installation, coral reef sounds, interspecies improvisatory exchanges, and a more-than-human framing of culture, the Animanities, are inviting a different, more ecocentric, way of being. As humans, we become better as we listen to the more-than-human world and find ways to directly or indirectly communicate beyond ourselves. Whales and their sonic production specifically have caused an incredible reimagination of what it means to be human, and what our role is on the planet. Ultimately, listening to whales becomes a doorway to change into a better animal.