Article ID: CBB388750124

Slicing Sound: Speaker Identification and Sonic Skills at the Stasi, 1966–1989 (2021)

unapi

It is well known that the Ministry of State Security in the former German Democratic Republic was deeply involved in wiretapping and eavesdropping on both foreigners and its citizens. It is less widely known that, against this background, the Stasi developed a keen interest in technologies and techniques of speaker identification, such as the visualization of recorded sound and aural analysis. How exactly did Stasi employees analyze the sound of voices? How did listening become a legitimate way of knowing in this context? And why did speaker identification not become as powerful as the Stasi had hoped? Empirically, this essay draws on documents from the Stasi’s former archives. Theoretically, it builds on “sonic skills” in the sciences to clarify the identification practices and distinguishes between the “logic of forensics” and the “logic of surveillance” to understand why the Stasi ran ashore in its sound analysis endeavor. Finally, it aims to contribute to understanding the information paradox in the Stasi historiography and its implications for the history of science.

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Authors & Contributors
Ashley Sweetman
Kämpf, Katrin M.
Brian Hochman
Alexander Trauth-Goik
Petit, Patrick
Macnish, Kevin
Concepts
Surveillance
Privacy
Security technologies
Technology and government
Communication technology
Technology and society
Time Periods
21st century
20th century, late
20th century
Modern
19th century
18th century
Places
United States
London (England)
Europe
European Union
China
Canada
Institutions
Amazon (Firm)
United States. National Security Agency
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