This special issue of The Polar Journal showcases six papers from the "Depths and Surfaces" Antarctic humanities and social sciences conference, held in Hobart from 5-7 July 2017. The introduction argues that while the physical continent of Antarctica is beyond the reach of most, the images and narratives that circulate in cultural discourse offer ways to experience the place from afar. Four general submissions are also included in the issue, three of which offer examinations of the far north context. First, this introduction traces the growth of Antarctic humanities and social sciences, both within the context of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), and in relation to the International Polar Year (IPY). Background information on the formation of the SCAR History Expert Group (HEG) and Humanities and Social Sciences Expert Group (HASSEG) provides context for the "Depths and Surfaces" conference, and sets the scene for discussions on the role of humanities in wider polar research projects. The authors argue that by integrating the likes of philosophers, anthropologists, historians and literary critics into larger research projects at the outset, and inviting them to shape the directions of research alongside their scientific counterparts, both the processes and products of research are enriched. The question of Antarctica's accessibility for artists and non-scientific researchers is considered, before each of the essays that make up the special issue is introduced. Taken together, the articles collated in this edition expand our knowledge of the polar regions and human engagement with these areas in exciting ways, and invite the reader to delve deeper into a range of disciplines. When it comes to polar humanities and social science research, there are still many depths to explore. Antarctica: the word conjures up images of wide expanses of ice, heroic figures battling against the blizzard, penguins and melting ice. It has a reputation as a place of extremes-the coldest, driest, windiest continent-and is difficult to physically access. Like many clichés, these contain some truth, but they disguise the degree to which Antarctica is a place tied KEYWORDS
Although humans tend to prioritize the visual over the acoustic in day-to-day life (Posner, Nissen and Klein), the Antarctic icescape threatens to up-end this sensory hierarchy.Performance studies specialist Mike Pearson notes the "primacy [in Antarctica] of sound over sight," adding that "the ear [is] ever attuned to the cracking of ice" (27). Many of the diaries and published accounts of early exploration of the continent, as well as more recent narratives based on journeys to and across the ice, include myriad references to the unique soundscapes of the region. These typically describe sounds produced by Antarctica's glaciers, icebergs and other forms of ice, its distinctive wildlife, and its highly changeable and often extreme wind conditions. Above all other aural elements encountered in Antarctica, however, silence has become the most prominent recurring theme in the literature since the earliest days of human exploration of the continent.The word 'silence' is often used to describe a perceived lack of sound, although some writers clearly adopt a broader definition that encompasses low-level environmental sounds, resonating more with the conceptions of silence put forward by John Cage (8, 22-23), R.Murray Schafer (256) and Gordon Hempton (Hempton and Grossmann). While in recent decades developments in sound recording technologies have enabled the recording and representation of many of Antarctica's different types of soundscapes, silence (even if understood as low-level ambient sound) tends to be far more difficult to captureaurally, it often loses meaning outside its context. To think about this key component of Antarctic soundscapes, then, we need to turn to written texts which record subjective responses to silence and give it particular significance. Similarly, existing literature and historical documents provide the only "earwitness accounts" (Schafer 8) of historical experiences of Antarctic soundscapes. Through these texts, we can begin to understand some of the various
During the so-called ‘heroic age’ of Antarctic exploration (c.1897–1922), various parties of men invented songs to aid the act of sledging and to provide a mental diversion from the monotony of the task and the physical demands it made on the human body. Songs composed in this uniquely polar musical genre typically included rhyming lyrics that were highly motivational and expressed a united identity. The lyrics were usually set to the melodies of popular songs of the day. When voiced in unison by men out ‘on the march,’ sledging songs could help to promote team synchronisation and cohesion, and give the act of sledging (as well as the expeditions as a whole) a stronger sense of purpose and meaning. The singing of such songs, therefore, contributed in a very practical way to the overall success of many Antarctic expeditions of the ‘heroic age’. This article examines three sledging songs dating from this period of Antarctic exploration and investigates the historical context in which they were created and performed. It also considers what these songs reveal about the experiences of the men who participated in the sledging journeys and their earliest perceptions of the Antarctic environment.
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