Walking as a field method in sensory studies
A seminar with Meri Kytö, University of Turku
Sensory field methods have become quite popular among research that either directly or indirectly is interested in the sensory. Walking in particular has gained a lot of academic attention, also among research that is artistically inclined. In situ research like walking is also a way to approach various bottom-up processes of forming research questions and settings that motivate the “field” and give an opportunity for the researcher to share expertise with communities in question.
During this session, we will ponder together on some techniques that I have found useful in studies concerning auditory cultures. We will start with a sensory deprivation walk in Copenhagen city centre (please dress according to the weather, wear comfortable shoes and bring a pen/pencil). After returning to campus, we will discuss ethnographical listening methods as versatile ways of situational knowledge making, with examples from previous studies (Kytö 2019; Uimonen, Kilpiö & Kytö 2024).
The possibilities are various, so there is always a risk of the method taking too much operationalized space (and effort) at the expense of the research task. In this session we will discuss also how, when and where to limit perceptual field work, and what are the reasons for collecting these kinds of materials for future research as well.
Bio
Meri Kytö is a university lecturer in musicology at the University of Turku and an associate professor in auditory culture studies at the University of Eastern Finland. Her previous publications have tackled urban space, sonic domestication and sensory agency in general, and articulations of acoustic privacy, background music, soundscapes of political protest, busking, football fans, public libraries and cochlear implant use in particular.
Currently she is working within the research projects Kuultava tulevaisuus (“Audible future”, 2024-2026), and Sonic Mediations and Ecocritical Listening (SOMECO, 2024-2028), a longitudinal research project of a span of 50 years investigating auditory cultures experienced and articulated in six European villages. Her research interests are in auditory cultures, soundscape studies, science and technology studies, ethnomusicology and sensory ethnography in its various forms.
She is the chair of the Finnish musicological society (2024–), the curator of Finnish Society for Acoustic Ecology’s online soundscape archive, and active in several editorial boards.
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