Abstract
The purpose of Listening Without Borders (edited by Magdalena Kubanyiova and Parinita Shetty, with Louise Dearden and Ana Korzun) is for contributors to reflect on “what it means and what it takes for people to encounter one another ethically in settings where ideologies and imaginations collide” (p. 1). Specifically, taking up this question: “How do people of conflicting worldviews, memories, and future visions encounter each other?” (p. 1). The methods of this open-access book are described here by the editors: “We came together in the virtual space for three ETHER (Ethics and Aesthetics of Encountering the Other) seminars between 2020 and 2022 to share our attempts (and often failures) to encounter others ethically in the multitude of small and unremarkable rituals of researching, teaching, art making, and meeting strangers” (p. 2).
Forty-two people contributed to this book. Each person participated in one of the ETHER seminars, part of an Art and Humanities Research Council network, and had their voices/thoughts recorded in response to various “probes and provocations.” The contributors hail from 10 countries representing artists, academics, dance researchers, musicians, ASL/English interpreters, etc. The array of perspectives and experiences is striking, and it is this vastness that is at the core of Listening Without Borders. Within its pages, difference as a concept is deliberately navigated through both the content and process.
I write as a person who both believes in and tries to practice open conversations and learning together across differences.
Listening without Borders is also a kind of love story—love of humanity, of creativity, of learning from a stranger, and especially, of that in-between space of difference, where the answer is not the goal.
Save for Kubanyiova and Shetty's introduction, each of the five chapters credits “multiple authors,” an effort to secure the integrity of many voices and perspectives, offering no one conclusion or answer to vexing and thrilling questions of human difference.
In a book that is short, 121 pages, including 21 compelling visual images—photographs, ink drawings, collages, and a woven tapestry, the five chapters engage in parallel themes of listening across differences. The book as a whole, however, does not necessarily benefit from being divided into separate entities. There is such weaving of ideas throughout the chapters that the book could almost have been one long chapter.
I found three examples from Chapter 3, “Encountering through Storytelling,” especially noteworthy. One example of sharing across differences happens on page 61 from contributor Amber Galloway-Gallego, an ASL/English interpreter for musicians who challenges the myth that deaf people can’t enjoy music. “How do deaf people enjoy music?… It's a big myth in the hearing world…They think that deaf people can’t hear so therefore they don’t like music…that's actually not true” (p. 61).
Further in the chapter, Erin Moriarty, a deaf contributor shares a black and white “still image of visual music.” She adds, “Lyrics don’t mean anything to me, so I experience music in a very different way” (p. 83).
Contributor, Louise Dearden, a teacher, responded to the prompt “What are you asking when you are asking somebody to tell a story?” “I asked [Henry, a student] what story he will tell for his project. He squirms, on the spot, looking very uncomfortable with the question. He frowns at me and says he doesn’t like stories” (p. 67).
Listening Without Borders is an engaging, ambitious and, in many ways, an unusual book that crosses conventions, countries, and perspectives. Part workbook, part qualitative research study, part call to action, Listening Without Borders reminded me of a fabric quilt (like the one on page 17), patches full of color and textures that might hide a secret message in the threads.
In places, I longed for a stronger narrative voice and structure to guide the reader through the at-once confusing and deeply moving pages. In a few spots, I found myself a little lost.
I can easily imagine this book as a companion to a cultural competency or diversity course for adult learners. This book also offers tools for artists and researchers seeking an avenue for strangers to listen and view processes and creations. Graduate and undergraduate students from any discipline may find usefulness and inspiration here, as well as artists and lifelong learners of the world drawn to listening without judgment to the human condition—all of it.
Listening without Borders is effective without extending beyond or privileging the “academic” perspective. That style is noteworthy in and of itself. In many beautiful moments, full of hope and also of challenge, Listening Without Borders urges us to consider ourselves and each other in imaginative, inclusive, and loving ways. This feels essential given the current moment nationally and globally.
