Affiliation:
1. 0000000088950553Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and 0000000107211626University of St Andrews
Abstract
There is something paradoxical about the fact that while whales and dolphins produce some of the most complex vocalizations on Earth, they have little political representation or ‘voice’ and despite the success of past anti-whaling campaigns, continue to face existential
threats from entanglement, ship strikes and underwater noise pollution. In this article, I argue that this paradox is sustained by a belief in human exceptionalism ‐ exemplified by the claim that music is unique to humans ‐ and review biological and musicological evidence that
contradicts this claim. Overcoming the paradox may require more than logical argument, however, and I survey the use of humpback whale song field recordings in works of human music, analysing them along the dimensions of ‘distance’ and ‘difference’. I argue that although
it is important to recognize the continuity between human music and humpback song, a more effective use of whale song recordings also requires attention to be paid to the differences between human and whale vocalizations to avoid the risk of collapsing into naïve anthropomorphism. Such
an animalcentric compositional voice would operate according to the ideals of ‘difference without distance’ and ‘proximity without indifference’ to facilitate empathic relationships between humans and other animals.
Subject
Literature and Literary Theory,Linguistics and Language,Visual Arts and Performing Arts,Language and Linguistics
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1. Anthropomorphism favors coexistence, not deadly domination;Psychology Today,2019
2. Judy Collins – “Farewell to Tarwathie”,2009
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