Bible Noise: Hearing Hidden and Silenced Voices through Sound Art Practice in the Reading Aloud of the Bible

My research brings together sound art with the ritual of reading aloud the bible. When the bible is read aloud in worship, it is done by a single voice. I consider this single voice as a mono-voice of hegemony that hides and silences that plurality of voices that are present in scripture, with certain voices becoming excluded and marginalised. Therefore, based on sound art practices, I explore, with the group Bible Noise, different ways of reading aloud scripture that could give greater attention to those voices that are ordinarily marginalised or unheard. The voices I pay attention to are those of women and the ‘alien’ or foreigner, as two marginalised groups. To do this I draw upon postcolonial, Black and feminist theology to examine, reimagine and contextualise these voices. Along with theology, philosophical ideas of plurality through Hannah Arendt and Jean-Luc Nancy are drawn upon to conceptualise ways plurality can be enacted. Listening to plurality in this project is a listening to multiple voices which leads to an exploration of polyphony, the simultaneous sounding of multiple voices. Polyphony, in its varied dimensions, is engaged with as a way to hear beyond the hegemonic and to pay attention to the many voices present in scripture. The group, Bible Noise, practices polyphony in different ways to attend to the voices of women and the ‘alien’ or the foreigner. I also explore our perception of hearing many simultaneous sounds and how we filter or merge the voices according to our prior understanding and propose more careful attention to those voices we have previously discounted. Polyphony in itself is not a guarantor of hearing the marginalised, as I discuss the notion of harmony where different voices are placed in a hierarchy or a ‘correct’ order. Polyphony, therefore, needs to be conceptualised in particular ways to hear the voices of the marginalised. Bible Noise employs sound art practices of the voice, text and plurality to engage and enact this polyphony which reveals the possibilities and challenges of the aim of hearing those who’ve been hidden and silenced. Through this distinctive bringing together of sound art with religious practice and text, new possibilities are created for hearing texts and engaging with sound art and religious ritual.