The Sonic Gaze

This book provides a framework with which to critically hear multimedia. In the digital age, where streaming and social media are the consumable medias of choice, sound is an undeniably important part of modern multimedia. Over the last 30 years, film and television have undergone major technological transformations, not the least of which is the shift from analog to digital means of reproduction. This shift was not done in a vacuum, but part of global shift in the political landscape. Amassing technological advances in tandem with the growing rift between the working and ruling class launched us deep into late capitalism. This book uses the lens of late capitalism from 1990-2020 to contextualize sonic power dynamics present throughout mass multimedia in the United States. The book examines animated serials featuring women antagonists and their soundscapes as a means of deconstructing the oppressive sonic structures present in their respective multimedia(s). The book utilizes a phenomenological approach to view these power dynamics, using the Sonic Gaze as a framework to view and recognize oppressive sound structures against women, femmes, and non-binary confirming folx. By listening to portrayals of these women of power, the book hears them from a slant, allowing for an examination of power.

TJ Laws-Nicola is a music researcher and recording artist originally from Texas and currently residing in the UK. In 2024, TJ received a PhD in Musicology. Their research examines multimedia, music, sounds, and power; their recorded works focus on living composers, new music, and original compositions.

1.-Introducing the Sonic Gaze.-2.-Hearing Agency.-3. -Sounding Fascism.-4. -Existence as Resistance.-5. -Sonic Destruction.-6.-Putting Her (Sound) in Her Place.-7.- It Sounds Like Witchcraft.-8. Being Mouthy.-9.-The Sonic Gaze.-Bibliography.-Videography.-Index.