Dissonant Records: Close Listening to Literary Archives (2024)

By Tanya Elizabeth Clement

Abstract

In Dissonant Records: Close Listening to Literary Archives, Tanya E. Clement addresses the underrepresentation of spoken word audio recordings in archival institutions and their neglect in literary scholarship. The book proposes a new methodology for interacting with sound archives, 'close listening,' and applies it to case studies which include oral histories of the Tulsa Race Massacre, Zora Neale Hurston’s ethnographic recordings, and personal therapy sessions by Anne Sexton. The review argues that the methodology has potential but suggests that it would benefit from a deeper engagement with psychoanalytic concepts and a more narrow focus.