Resounding Resistance: Decolonising Memory Through Johannesburg's Sound Art Narratives

Kappler, Stefanie; Gunter, Ashley; Truter, Lorna

Abstract

This article is drawn from findings of the research project “Decolonising Education for Peace in Africa”. It analyses a collaborative sound art project in Johannesburg, investigating how sound art can act as conduit for the transmission of community memories, particularly as part of broader decolonial efforts. We propose that sound artists are able to activate seemingly forgotten community narratives, translating these into artistic expressions that offer a pathway towards visions of decolonisation through sonic means. This art form, we argue, serves as a potent form of activism against the deliberate historical amnesias imposed by colonialism, which have sought to efface and overwrite community memories. By harnessing sonic remembrance, communities confront these colonial narratives, resisting the appropriation of their auditory culture and the imposition of Western musical norms. The article discusses how community sound artists engage with their sonic creations to assert their identity and agency, deploying African musical instruments and elements within the post-colonial urban fabric as a means of reclaiming their narrative autonomy in community reconstitution. Through this lens, the study highlights the critical role of soundscapes in challenging colonial legacies and reasserting indigenous agency in the ongoing process of community self-definition, yet shaped by its very own intersectional inequalities.

Citation

Kappler, S., Gunter, A., & Truter, L. (in press). Resounding Resistance: Decolonising Memory Through Johannesburg's Sound Art Narratives. Memory Studies,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 13, 2025
• Deposit Date: Jan 15, 2025
• Journal: Memory Studies
• Print ISSN: 1750-6980
• Electronic ISSN: 1750-6999
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3334899