Sound and safe : a history of listening behind the wheel /
Karin Bijsterveld, Eefje Cleophas, Stefan Krebs and Gijs Mom.
- Oxford : Oxford University Press, (c)2013.
- 1 online resource.
Includes bibliographies and index.
1. Driving in Control -- Introduction -- Why Acoustic Cocooning and the Sound of Cars? -- Making Sense of Sound -- Sensory Studies, Mobility Culture, and History of Technology -- How We Will Navigate -- New Themes along the Road -- 2. "It Shuts with a Comforting Sound" : Closing the Car Body -- Introduction -- The Rise of the Closed Sedan : Sound Body Building -- Mechanical Silence as Sign of Reliability and Engineering Quality -- Convenient Silence as Ideal for Long-Distance Travelling -- Aristocratic Silence as Mark of Distinction -- An Uplifting and Distancing Experience -- Saving the Cinematic Drive -- Conclusions -- 3. Humming Engines and Moving Radio : Encapsulating the Listening Driver -- Introduction -- Mysterious Noises : The Driver's Experiences -- Listening to the Automobile : The Mechanic's Ear -- The Repair Crisis and the Professionalization of the Car Mechanic -- "A Marriage on its Last Legs" : The Differentiation of Listening Practices -- Decent Radio Reception, As Long as the Car Is Not Moving -- The Car Radio as Mood Regulator -- Conclusions: Car Talk -- 4. "Like a Boxed Calf in a Traffic Drain" : The Car on the Corridor -- Introduction -- The "Only Option" : The Rise of the Roadside Noise Barrier in the Western World -- A New Berlin Wall : The Reception of Noise Barriers in the Netherlands -- Denial Design : Building Green, Transparent and Loss-Compensating Barriers -- A Moving Barrier : The Glocalization of the Noise Barrier -- Nothing to See, Lots to Listen to : Traffic Radio and Audio Books -- Conclusions -- 5. Selling Sound : Sensory Marketing in the Automotive Industry -- Introduction -- Coming to Your Senses, Composing the Sound of Cars -- Leeway for Car Sound Design : Behind the Scenes of International Standardization -- Finding Words for Sound : Lay and Expert Listeners -- Marketing Sound in the Experience Society -- Conclusions -- 6. Sound and Safe : Auditory Privacy and Sonic Relief in the Car -- Introduction -- A History of Listening Behind the Wheel -- Moving, Seeing, Listening, in the Car and in the Past -- The Echo of the Boom Car -- Conclusions: Sensitizing Mobility Culture -- Author Biographies -- Archives, Journals and Interviews.