The Specter of Colonialism: A Critical Re-Examination of Raymond Murray Schafer’s The Tuning of the World

This article revisits Raymond Murray Schafer’s classic text, The Tuning of the World, to explore how the text ignores race and colonialism in the concept of sound imperialism. I argue that Schafer’s concept of a “soundscape” projects a theoretical and narrative perspective that ensures Europe and White European values remain at the center of the listening experience. This article contributes to current discussions on the epistemological limitations of the academic study of sound by advancing the argument that colonialism and race are ignored in the study of sound broadly defined.