Mourning the Nightingale’s Song: The Audibility of Networked Performances in Protests and Funerals of the Arab Revolutions

Given the salient role of embodied tactics in contemporary networked protests performance, this essay I listen for how sonic praxis during Arab revolutions translates into audio, visual, and text modalities digital media. propose audibility, or appearance perceptibility sound objects, as that which “live” occurs physical spaces representational spaces, and, so doing, alters temporality spatiality experience. Interrogating who what are rendered audible part political contestations drive protest actions, demonstrate audibility is a technological condition, sensory force, social process through affective publics emerge spaces. begin with media posts from first months non-violent actions 2011, Egypt Syria, analyzing translation objects written texts narrativize subjects revolutions. then shift to revolutionary mourning discussion crowd footage funerals reclaimed martyrs Syrian revolution 2018 2019, interrogating sounds enable mythologization martyrs’ bodies help mobilize cause they died. Both approaches – expressing voice documenting underscore argue, crucial understanding affect-rich intensities performances, forge possibilities imaginable, sensible, perceptible.