The lost critical history of radio

摘要

We are currently in a new kind of "golden age" of soundwork, with creative forms proliferating across the airwaves and the internet. More creative soundwork than ever before is available; an old art form has been revived and exciting new voices can be heard. Yet, in the United States context in particular, something is missing: a critical sense of radio's history. For an art form to flourish, a sense of continuity and development, a knowledge of aesthetic roots and a sense of how the new connects with the old is vitally necessary for producers and for audiences. Despite some excellent new work and new initiatives, US radio history remains in a largely neglected state. There are two aspects to this dilemma: the problem of the archive and the problem of critical discourse. In the first case, in the US most of the historical evidence of radio's first four decades of innovation remains locked away behind obsolete and decaying technologies, in many cases uncatalogued and inaccessible. In the second case, US soundwork lacks a critical tradition. As a result, it remains a form cut off from its roots, with even its most talented contemporary practitioners innovating in a vacuum, giving audiences little purchase on how they might understand and appreciate the complexities of the best new work. Fortunately, the same digital opportunities that have sparked the radio revival also point towards solutions to neglect of its critical historiography. This article examines the dilemma of radio's missing critical history, making comparisons to other countries and pointing to new initiatives working to grant better exposure to radio archives and stimulate critical discussion and review.