“VIBRATING IN COUNTERPOINT OF THE ROAR OF AXES AND ARTILLERY SHELLS”: CITY SOUNDSCAPE IN WAR

Abstract

Background. The article explores the sensory dimension of war since any war is an assault on the body and therefore on the senses (S. Cole). After February 22, 2022, Ukrainian cities have undergone metamorphosis from peace to war at different speeds and to varying degrees. Consequently, urban soundscapes have been significantly influenced by the new reality. City soundscape in war is not properly researched thus its study in the conditions of the russian-Ukrainian war has relevance and novelty which are not limited to the interest of Ukrainian academia. This article aims to define the key attributes of the transformed soundscapes of Ukrainian cities as well as identify specific literary representations of the sonorous experience of war. The analysis of the acoustic environment, its dynamic and transforming power draws most on the theory of sound initiated by P. Murray Schaffer, and particularly on the methodology and terminology established within the literary sound studies by J. Picker, H. Groth, S. Cole, S. Halliday ect. Results. "Distinctive sonic signatures" (S. Halliday's term) in city soundscapes of war include loud sounds of explosions, penetrating sounds of air-raid sirens, airdrones' whirring sounds. The sensorium of war also encompasses silence as an important attribute of the city soundscape. It has been proved that sounds not only destroy semantic structures but on the contrary – become an integral factor in the process of meaning creation. Conclusions. Literature serves as a space for 'recoding' the negative sounds of the city (as the sources of confusion, anxiety and anger) and generating new meanings – of strength and resilience. In the works by Ukrainian writers – L. Kostenko, S. Zhadan, O. Stepanenko, I. Vikyrchak, and A. Levkova -- urban soundscapes are represented in both the immediacy/reportage of description and the symbolism of understanding the aftermath of war. As literature manifests, the feeling of terror from explosions and sirens of air alarms can be transformed into a means of empowerment to resist. The article also focuses on the phenomenon of traumatisation by sound and introduces the concept of "sonotorture".