à Publications

BOOK REVIEW

‘MANIFESTO FOR SILENCE --- CONFRONTING THE POLITICS AND CULTURE OF NOISE’ by Stuart Sim, Edinburgh University Press, 2007.

ISBN: 978-0-7486-2591-8 hardback, 215 pages including notes, bibliography, index.

Noise is unwanted sound, and one of the author’s main contentions is that people should not have noise imposed upon them against their will. Nor should silence be imposed. What is needed is the freedom to choose peace and quiet whenever we need or want it as a respite from the noise of modern life. Noise cannot be avoided altogether but there is a need for a balance between loudness and quiet. His academic background is revealed when he chooses to amplify this theme in Part 2 by examining the role of silence in the humanities.

Part 1 is a condemnation of excessive noise in the modern environment. In these chapters the human being behind the professor comes through to the reader, as he presents an impassioned argument which clearly has its roots in his own frustrations. Academics are required to engage in creative thinking which is rendered difficult, if not impossible, in the presence of noise. He visits all the usual arenas to find examples which support his thesis, quoting familiar health risks and educational disadvantages as well as the evils of noise used as a weapon of war and torture. Corporate and political greed are blamed for allowing technology to dehumanize us.

Part 2 examines the concept of ‘silence’ in its broadest possible interpretation, in the humanities. There are chapters on religion, philosophy, aesthetics, the arts, literature and speech. For example there is a lengthy discussion of Derrida and the deconstructionists: ‘What we want to say is, quite literally for a deconstructionist, unsayable.’ In a number of contexts reference is made to John Cage’s musical composition which has the title 4’ 33’’ (4 minutes 33 seconds ??). It has no score and the performer remains silent throughout. There are also references to modern works of art which consist of canvases which are completely and uniformly either all white or all black. Somehow the author manages to engage in lengthy analyses of the ‘silence’ in these works --- after all, he is a Professor of Critical Theory. He will perhaps be understood more readily by the layperson when he discusses the use of silence for dramatic effect in the theatre, thereby illustrating one of his main points, namely that silence is meaningful and acceptable only when found in a context of non-silence. When discussing aesthetics the author distinguishes between silence as a condition in which we find ourselves, and silence as a response to a situation.

The two halves of this book are quite distinct in their treatment of the subject, and are likely to appeal to two different groups of readers. There is just one chapter which bridges the two, and that is the one on religion. Most of the world’s great religions advocate silent meditation in an atmosphere of peace and quiet, as a means of nourishing the soul.

Hazel Guest

January 2008

UK Noise Association, PO BOX 551

Chatham, Kent ME4 9AJ

Tel: 01634 863 852 www.ukna.org.uk info@ukna.org.uk

Publications: Book Reviews