Mood Studies and Sound Studies: resonances of relational epistemologies

Abstract

This article explores the intersections between Mood Studies and Sound Studies, highlighting the significance of relational epistemologies for understanding contemporary forms of experience. Building on Heidegger’s notion of Stimmung as a fundamental structure of being-in-the-world, it integrates Hermann Schmitz’s philosophy of atmospheres and Raymond Williams’s concept of structures of feeling. This convergence shifts the focus of sociocultural analysis from institutions to tonalities, resonances, and dispositions that circulate across bodies, environments, and materialities. Sound Studies, by emphasizing listening practices and aural cultures, provide

fertile ground for Mood Studies to expand their scope. The article argues that the articulation between these fields enables the social to be conceived as a field of affective and sonic forces, where feeling, listening, and inhabiting become inseparable dimensions of collective experience.