A Thousand and One Gills – Listening with One Ear [Series 3/5]

Audio 02:31

A thousand and one gills - from one ear.

© FMM Graphic Studio

By: Monica Fantini

3 mins

To turn a deaf ear, to cover one's ears…: expressions that describe the unfortunate tendency not to listen, or if distractedly, are legion.

Would listening be a choice, a gesture in itself?

The poet Walt Whitman wrote of his desire, in the 19th century, to let the world settle and rustle within him so that he could no longer devote himself to anything but listening.

A composition and sound declaration for a chosen listening.

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The series “

“ 

 ” is a series of five episodes devoted to the multiple and complex meanings of the verb “to listen”.

What does it mean to “listen”?

Does noise have the power to call us back to life?

Why don't the ears have eyelids?

Listening and listening to oneself, is it the same thing?

Quotations from poets, philosophers, composers, intertwined with my reflections, but also sounds and words from the sound vocabulary weave a discourse with several voices.

If there are a thousand and one hearings, a thousand and one ways of describing them must also be able to be expressed.

From the dreams of Gaston Bachelard to those of Roland Barthes or Peter Szendy;

poems by Walt Whitman and Suzanne Doppelt, studies by futurist composer Luigi Russolo and contemporary Nicolas Frize… What secrets does listening reveal?

Who or what are you listening to?

Genesis of the idea "

“Listener” to world sounds for ten years, I have been composing sound pieces for RFI for the program “Ecouter le monde”, all shared on this page.

This daily practice of listening is accompanied by readings which nourish my reflection, amplify my ability to listen.

By definition invisible and elusive, the sound material is difficult to describe.

Often the words are missing or remain unused.

With this new series, I want to listen to words chosen from my little library, intertwined with mine, in resonance with the sounds of the world.

“ 

 ” is an intimate and semantic exploration of the verb “to listen” and the various ways of listening and saying it.

Bibliography of citations

Nuit

, Etel Adnan, translated by Françoise Despalles, Éditions de l'Attente, 2017.

Ancestral

, Goliarda Sapienza, translated by Nathalie Castagné, Éditions Le Tripode, 2021.

The right to dream

, Gaston Bachelard, Editions PUF, 1970.

The Invisible Cities

, Italo Calvino, translated by Jean Thibaudeau, Éditions Gallimard, 2013.

The Art of Noises

− Futurist Manifesto 1913, Luigi Russolo, Éditions Allia, 2003.

Study of the cultural references that surround and define the notion of noise, the actions of hearing and listening

, Nicolas Frize, Éditions Le Plan Urbain – Ministry of Equipment – ​​1995.

Listening

, Peter Szendy, Éditions Bayard, 2017.

Notebooks in the margin

, Roland Dubillard, Éditions Gallimard, 1998.

The Obvie and the Obtuse.

Critical Essays 3

, Roland Barthes, Editions du Seuil, 1982.

Amusements of mechanics

, Suzanne Doppelt, Editions POL, 2014.

Leaves of Grass

, Walt Whitman, 1855.

And more words gleaned and intertwined from Arthur Rimbaud, Colette, Marcel Proust, Francis James, Victor Hugo, Romain Rolland...

Thanks to Giulia Camin, head of the contemporary poetry library at Cipm (International Poetry Center Marseille), for her poetic suggestions.

Production team

Design, writing, editing, mixing: Monica Fantini

Voice recording and mixing assistance: Laurence Allanic and Pascal Boungo – Creation Unit

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Pascale Evrard

Both a radio program broadcast every Sunday in RFI's news bulletin and a participatory platform, "Listen to the world" lets people hear the cultures of the world through everyday sounds.

Hundreds of programs can be listened to as podcasts on this page, while the evolving platform www.ecouterlemonde.net offers sound postcards and recordings.

To date, 245 sound recordings are available for free access.

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