Listening for mermaids
Abstract
Along and in the rivers of Lewisham in south-east London, we hear stories of mermaids, treasure chests, crocodiles and, dwelling in a dark corner of Deptford Creek, the Necker, some say a merperson or a serpent.
In this audio paper, we explore these ethereal and slippery stories through listening to the landscape, examining the role of sound in the ongoing process of producing places (Massey, 1994). We consider how sound conjures the imagined mermaids and other watery creatures and foregrounds the pluralities and possibilities of places (Voegelin, 2021). In a reciprocal feedback loop, sounds give rise to certain imaginings and, once imagined, these sounds confirm the existence of what we think or know we heard.
The imaginings are intimately tied in with everyday forms of place-making along Lewisham’s rivers – picnicking, graffiti-writing, playing and birdwatching. They are also a response to the liminality of such spaces; concerns about safety after dark or uncertainty about what is in or under the water equally giving rise to mythical creatures.
In turn, the imaginings layer onto the multiplicity of trajectories and practices intersecting to create places (Massey, 2012). Entwined in this are the landscape’s sounds - field recordings, interviews, and music that the rivers recalled to us. Sounds which are not echoes of places but active in their production.
Through the sonic personae of mermaids, we suggest listening confluently to grasp sound’s role in texturing the rivers’ ambiguous and otherworldly qualities. Like the confluence of two streams of a river, listening confluently opens a crack in any notion of place, allowing other stories to issue forth.
Along and in Lewisham’s rivers we invite (in fact, impel) you to listen confluently; to listen for mermaids and the places in which they dwell.
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Keywords
Bibliography
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Discography
4hero (2009). »The Paranormal in 4 Forms«, Parallel Universe [CD]. London: Reinforced Records.
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Jackson, E. and Rondel, L. (no date a). Confluence. Available at: https://soundcloud.com/confluencepodcast/episode-1?si=cbda8d5521974d1bbf4affa16457ede9&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Jackson, E. and Rondel, L. (no date b). Confluence. Available at: https://soundcloud.com/confluencepodcast/episode-2?si=f45934864c7c4713b04eadb765c3992e&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
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Barton, J., Kronic, M.B. and Goodman, S. (eds) (2024). Sonic Faction: Audio Essay as Medium and Method. Falmouth: Urbanomic Sequence PR.
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Pedersen, T. (2018). »Thinking with mermaids here and now«. Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures, 12(2), 250-255. Available at: https://www.shimajournal.org/issues/v12n2/s.-Pedersen-Shima-v12n2.pdf
Portals of London (2019). »Drowned lair: The Deptford Creek Necker«. Available at: https://portalsoflondon.com/2019/01/13/drowned-lair-the-deptford-creek-necker/
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