A Shifting Swarm of Vocalities : An Assemblage Approach to PA Systems and Morning Assemblies in Finnish Primary Schools (1930s–1980s)

Abstract

This chapter studies the history and uses of central public address (PA) systems in Finnish primary schools, which gradually became the norm from the 1930s onwards. They could be used to broadcast live or recorded speech, music, and other sounds from one or more sending units located in the school building to loudspeakers mounted in the walls or ceilings of classrooms, halls, and corridors. Studying the historical functions, purposes and uses as well as the lived experiences of these systems sheds light on the everyday oralities of schools: how did certain types of vocalities shape time, space, bodies, and affects at school? How did they link to material and cultural systems, and how did they change? Our attention is focused on the agencies in vocal practices of the day-to-day life at school, and how these changed during the period we are studying.