COMM 4602 Chapter Notes - Chapter n/a: Soundscape, Smoke Detector, Silent Alarm
19 Jul 2016
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Reading #1: silent alarm: the mosquito youth deterrent and the politics of frequency. The mosquito is an ultrasonic device that uses sounds to deter young people from loitering. The sound it emits is inaudible to most people over the age of 25 but is intolerable to those younger. The mosquito stratifies space through sonic frequency and creates zones that are inhospitable to young people. The author argues that the mosquito causes pain and therefore constitutes a weaponization of sound. Not only does the mosquito threaten to deepen an already perceived rift between young people and adults, it abets the very notion of youth and adulthood as biologically different categories. In late 2005 the soundscape of uk cities turned hostile for young people. As shopkeepers and public institutions switched on a new gadget called the mosquito, people under the age of 25 plugged their ears and fled.
