Paper short abstract:

In a research approach comprising both ethnographic fieldwork and soundscape studies one of Berlin's so-called problem quarters comes under close scrutiny. The paper reflects on the potentials and weaknesses of field recordings as an ethnographic medium.

Paper long abstract:

'In the course of time every section and quarter of the city takes on something of the character and qualities of its inhabitants.' (Robert Ezra Park, 1915)

Urban development program 'Districts with Special Development Needs - The Socially Integrative City' funded by the European Union aims to change life for the better in several so-called problem quarters of Berlin. For more than ten years now, creditable investments have been made in education, local economy and cultural projects. For example, media project 'Kingz of Kiez' provides a record studio and video equipment for local teenagers to produce their own sound recordings and music videos.

While projects such as 'Kings of Kiez' serve as a prominent showcase for successful integration and participation of ethnic minorities, its representational strategies mostly build upon a stereotypical hip-hop-'gangsta-rapper'-style, thus perpetuating the 'ghetto' image of their neighbourhood. The Kingz' media practices could either be interpreted as appropriation of a particular style code or merely as a confirmation of given prejudices.

But what does life in Soldiner Kiez actually sound like? In an approach combining ethnographic fieldwork and soundscape studies (following Steven Feld, Helmi Järviluoma, Rowland Atkinson and others) one of Berlin's problematic city quarters comes under close scrutiny. Which languages, musical styles and other sonic interventions are to be heard in the streets, shops, backyards and mosques of this city quarter? How can interviews and field recordings as an ethnographic medium confirm or counterbalance the more or less docile representations of the 'other'?