There's more than meets the ear : a political-sociological investigation into invisible, intangible power in the sonic appropriation of space

Abstract

This work addresses the intrinsic link between space and social interaction. It discusses the social manufacturing of space in relation to its sonic production, taking as its key object of study the atonal sound made by fireworks in Maltese parish festas. The seasonal fireworks displays in Malta hence provide merely a temporary sonic appropriation of space, yet both their production as well as subsequent debates on their appropriateness, are indicative and constitutive of an array of notions of Maltese identity, including gender roles, moderation and morality, status of social groups and our Euro-Mediterranean cultural location.