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Start Date
12-6-2025 1:00 PM
Description
Theme parks have long used sound/music as a tool to immerse audiences, employing techniques such as sonic cues and soundtracks derived from transmedia sources. As well, researchers of theme parks, not unlike modernist ethnographers, have been complicit in privileging (accipiens aliquid ab initio) the sonic realities of theme parks as the theoretical and methodological preconditions of their analyses. However, these spatial and methodological constructs often reflect modernist assumptions, emphasizing control, hierarchy, anthropocentrism, and universality in both their creation and study. This paper critically examines the limitations of such methods, proposing a shift toward postmodern approaches that embrace multiplicity, ambiguity, and decentralization. Drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Stephen A. Tyler’s concept of evocation and middle voice in anthropology, as well as the sonic avant-garde perspectives of Murray Schafer’s Soundscapes and Xenakis’s innovations, this study highlights the need for new methodologies to analyze and design soundscapes within theme parks.
Through this lens, the paper also explores how soundscapes intersect with broader cultural and environmental themes, particularly the Anthropocene, which challenges notions of human dominance and foregrounds ecological interconnectedness. By deconstructing traditional approaches and integrating avant-garde techniques, this research proposes an alternative framework that prioritizes sensory diversity and the dynamic interplay between sound, space, and audience. This shift not only deepens our understanding of theme park sound but also aligns with emergent paradigms in postmodern anthropology, fostering a more inclusive and reflexive engagement with soundscapes.
Recommended Citation
Lukas, Scott A., "Problematizing the Sonic Constructs of Theme Parks: Toward a Postmodernist Ethnographic Methodology and Anthropocene-Infused Reformulation of Space" (2025). Theme Park Music and Sound. 6.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/tpms/2025/thursday/6
Problematizing the Sonic Constructs of Theme Parks: Toward a Postmodernist Ethnographic Methodology and Anthropocene-Infused Reformulation of Space
Theme parks have long used sound/music as a tool to immerse audiences, employing techniques such as sonic cues and soundtracks derived from transmedia sources. As well, researchers of theme parks, not unlike modernist ethnographers, have been complicit in privileging (accipiens aliquid ab initio) the sonic realities of theme parks as the theoretical and methodological preconditions of their analyses. However, these spatial and methodological constructs often reflect modernist assumptions, emphasizing control, hierarchy, anthropocentrism, and universality in both their creation and study. This paper critically examines the limitations of such methods, proposing a shift toward postmodern approaches that embrace multiplicity, ambiguity, and decentralization. Drawing on theoretical frameworks such as Stephen A. Tyler’s concept of evocation and middle voice in anthropology, as well as the sonic avant-garde perspectives of Murray Schafer’s Soundscapes and Xenakis’s innovations, this study highlights the need for new methodologies to analyze and design soundscapes within theme parks.
Through this lens, the paper also explores how soundscapes intersect with broader cultural and environmental themes, particularly the Anthropocene, which challenges notions of human dominance and foregrounds ecological interconnectedness. By deconstructing traditional approaches and integrating avant-garde techniques, this research proposes an alternative framework that prioritizes sensory diversity and the dynamic interplay between sound, space, and audience. This shift not only deepens our understanding of theme park sound but also aligns with emergent paradigms in postmodern anthropology, fostering a more inclusive and reflexive engagement with soundscapes.
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