Occupying New Sound Worlds: Debordering Sonic Imaginaries in StoryMaps

In this chapter, we explore how concepts such as occupation and debordering resonate in post-conflict Northern Ireland, particularly as reflected in the lived experience of people in post-conflict border areas. We focus on the StoryMap contribution of our co-researcher Annette, who lived through days of razor wire and surveillance tower checkpoints and now deeply appreciates the significance of free movement. This analysis grows out of important questions that were addressed during the Resonating Occupation workshop, such as ‘What does occupation sound like?’; ‘How are sound and music implicated in the disciplining of colonized subjects and aural spaces?’; ‘What can studies of occupation contribute to developing new research methodologies and approaches to studying sound?’ (Resonating Occupation 2018). This chapter seeks to respond especially to the latter question, with particular reference to StoryMap and its ‘decolonising’ research potential, but, in view of the locally contentious implications of the terms ‘occupation’ and ‘colonisation’, we consider it necessary to adjust our vocabulary. However, this is more than a semantic sleight as we shall see, as a shift towards engagement with ‘debordering’ shapes the methodological framing in important ways and enriches our engagement with the concept of decolonisation itself.