Feeling at home: Sound, affect and domesticity on radio soap operas. (1st April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Emmett, Ilana R.
• Is Part Of: Radio journal. Volume 19:Number 1(2021)
• Page Start: 23
• Page End: 39
• Publication Date: 2021-04-01
• Subjects: Radio -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Radio audiences -- Periodicals; Radio stations -- Sociological aspects -- Periodicals; Sound recordings -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; 384.54
• DOI: 10.1386/rjao_00032_1
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1476-4504

Abstract

This article introduces the concept of 'the everyday implausible', asserting that, between 1930 and 1960, US radio serial aesthetics produced a tug-of-war between the familiar and the unfamiliar that was simultaneously radical and reactionary. This aesthetic created a space for the listener to place new versions of herself within the narrative, inviting the imagined woman-at-home to re-envisioning the possibilities of reality. However, re-envisioning reality produced its own set of limitations. The sonic features of the radio serial soundscape created imaginary spaces within the home, but these imaginary spaces were ‐ as often as not ‐ also homes, making the potential of escape wholly illusory. In giving attention to the specific aesthetic features of these programmes, this article interrogates the meaningful work produced by a sparse soundscape, alongside an emphasis on domesticity and emotional conversation.