Controlling Sounds: Music, Sound Technologies, War and Power in the Era of Fascisms (Krieg in Der Geschichte, 126)

Music and sound were pivotal yet frequently underestimated instruments of fascist propaganda, nationalist dominance, disciplinary control, terror, and violence, as well as forms of resistance during the interwar period and World War II. This volume brings together cross-disciplinary research by scholars from anglophone and European institutions, examining the use of sound for the enactment of political power across diverse regions in Europe, North America, and India. The chapters conceptualise music as a form of sound technology with an exceptional and adaptable propagandistic potential. They employ a variety of approaches that illuminate the political and propagandistic efforts of musicians - including composers, performers, critics, and music journalists - as well as sound technicians, mass media representatives, detention centres, political bodies, and more.

Diego Alonso is Senior Researcher at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.
Steffen Just is postdoc researcher at the University of Bonn (Musicology/Sound Studies).
Christian Koller is director of the Swiss Social Archives in Zurich and adjunct professor of Modern History at the University of Zurich.