Authoring Noise, Noising Authority: Loudness and Oratory in an East Javanese Family Gathering

Heikki Wilenius

In this article, Heikki Wilenius reexamines an initially disregarded field recording from a family meeting in East Java, Indonesia, to understand the interplay between loudness and authority. The focal point of the analysis is the presence of a massive sound system in the gathering and its impact on social interactions. Wilenius explores the oratorical practices within the context of the event and examines the different ways speakers attempt to speak in an authoritative manner. Additionally, he investigates the semiotics of noise, considering it not as a mere lack of structure but as a moment of interruption that can produce insights upon closer analysis. Wilenius argues that the loudness of oratory events in Java implies power but can also risk being perceived as empty rhetoric. He suggests that authority in Java has a semiotic ideology where refined, ignorable sounds can coexist with harsh, compelling ones. The article concludes that the materiality of the recording itself serves as an ethnographic object that resists assimilation into a cultural context, offering insights into the dynamics of authority at play. By embracing the "deficiencies" of the recording, Wilenius uncovers new dimensions of the ethnographic experience, proposing a methodology of repeated listening to reveal structures within seemingly arbitrary sounds.

4. Recording Noise – and Listening to It

The recording, through which I have reentered the family gathering while writing this, contains four layers of audio material. Firstly, there are the oratories, spoken through the massive PA system. Secondly, there are the discussions that go on in the VIP guest area, sometimes interacting with or commenting on the oratories, but mostly detached from them. Thirdly, there are the dialogues that took place between myself and various guests in the VIP area. Finally, there is the intermittent layer of noise, a result of the technical deficiencies of the microphone, that vary according to the enunciations of the orators as well as my actions, such as handling the phone or putting it in my pocket.

I am not sure what the physics were behind the failed recording, but I suppose that the insufficiency of the membrane of the smartphone microphone or the microphone circuit to handle the extremely loud speaker system combined to produce recorded sounds ranging from brief harsh crackles to full-blown bursts of noisy distortion. These sounds gave an erratic rhythm to the recording, like an experimental backing track of the oratory, since it follows the oratorical rhythms and enunciations like an envelope follower. It also makes the listening experience of the recording almost unbearable, especially when attempting to comprehend one of the discursive levels of the recording instead of just allowing oneself to become immersed in the soundscape.

When forced to confront the sound, I noticed that my focus was mostly on the non-discursive aspects of the recording: the dramatic arc of the oratories and the voicing contrasts (see Agha 2005: 39) of the people in the VIP dais, such as my (too) serious tone when explaining Finnish conditions or the light, joking tone used by the representative of the regional administration to mitigate his challenging position as a Javanese Christian in an Islamic gathering. In this way, the recording noise functioned as a semantic filter. I will return to this point in the next section.

1. Introduction: Genealogies and a Sound System

2.Some Remarks on Noise

3.Gatherings and Authority in East Java

4.Recording Noise – and Listening to It

5.Noising Authority

6.“With Sufficient Listenings”

7.Conclusion: Between Noise and a Field Recording

References

Excerpt from the first oratory, gradually increasing in amplitude

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4. Recording Noise – and Listening to It