Music as Torture / Music as Weapon
Author(s):
Suzanne G. Cusick
Publication Year:
2006
Type:
journal article
Journal/Book Title
Trans. Revista Transcultural de Música
Publisher
Editor(s):
Pages:
379-391
Volume:
10
Issue:
Abstract:
One of the most startling aspects of musical culture in the post-Cold War United States is the systematic use of music as a weapon of war. First coming to mainstream attention in 1989, when US troops blared loud music in an effort to induce Panamanian president Manuel Norriega’s surrender, the use of “acoustic bombardment” has become standard practice on the battlefields of Iraq, and specifically musical bombardment has joined sensory deprivation and sexual humiliation as among the non-lethal means by which prisoners from Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo may be coerced to yield their secrets without violating US law.
Citation (Chicago Author-Date):
Cusick, Suzanne G. 2006. “Music as Torture / Music as Weapon.” Trans. Revista Transcultural de Música 10: 379–91. https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/822/82201011.pdf.