Sound References in Literature

The World Soundscape Project's Sound References in Literature, a collection of about 1000 quotations, has been analyzed statistically by author, by geographical region and by time period as follows:

I. Authors with 10 or more quotations in the database:

AUTHOR
Natural Sounds
Human Sounds
Sounds and Society
Mechanical Sounds
Quiet and Silence
Similes & Metaphors
Epics and Sagas
36.7
48.3
40.0
28.3
5.0
18.3
Margaret Atwood
52.9
20.6
41.2
2.9
8.8
26.5
Books of Religion
60.0
55.0
47.5
12.5
5.0
22.5
Samuel Beckett
25.0
66.7
8.3
0.0
25.0
16.7
Emily Carr
599.6
27.7
38.3
6.4
8.5
46.8
Joseph Conrad
37.5
31.2
62.5
12.5
50.0
50.0
Charles Dickens
30.0
30.0
80.0
80.0
10.0
20.0
Alain Fournier
41.7
50.0
66.7
25.0
16.7
16.7
Gustave Flaubert
51.6
51.6
77.4
12.9
12.9
32.3
Grey Owl
75.0
16.7
83.3
8.3
25.0
8.3
George Green
54.5
9.1
100.
18.2
63.6
36.4
Frederick Philip Grove
67.9
10.7
10.7
10.7
14.3
17.9
Thomas Hardy
46.7
20.0
58.3
20.0
13.3
30.0
Hermann Hesse
44.8
37.9
75.9
10.3
24.1
27.6
Arthur Koestler
10.0
80.0
80.0
0.0
60.0
20.0
D.H. Lawrence
31.6
47.4
52.6
36.8
21.1
15.8
Somerset Maugham
43.7
43.7
75.0
0.0
37.5
31.2
W.O. Mitchell
75.0
13.0
37.0
5.6
14.6
35.2
Susanna Moodie
69.2
38.5
61.5
7.7
23.1
7.7
Hugh McLennan
31.2
43.7
31.2
31.2
37.5
25.0
Boris Pasternak
57.1
35.7
57.1
50.0
7.1
42.9
Erich Maria von Remarque
12.1
39.4
6.1
54.5
15.2
30.3
Romain Rolland
73.3
26.7
93.3
20.0
26.7
33.3
David Storey
27.3
81.8
54.5
63.6
9.1
54.5
Agnes Smedley
27.8
61.1
61.1
0.0
27.8
55.6
Auguste Strindberg
33.3
40.0
80.0
6.7
13.3
26.7
Dylan Thomas
62.5
54.2
47.9
16.7
18.7
14.6
Leo Tolstoy
60.0
65.0
45.0
30.0
15.0
5.0
Virgil
54.1
35.1
48.6
5.4
2.7
10.0
Virginia Woolf
13.6
27.3
50.0
18.2
9.1
22.7

II. Subject Classifications in Britain, Europe and North America

CLASSIFICATION
BRITISH ISLES
EUROPE
NORTH AMERICA
Sounds of Water
10.2
11.7
16.1
Sounds of Air
9.8
8.3
15.8
Sounds of Earth
7.3
8.6
11.2
Sounds of Fire
2.9
1.9
0.3
Birds
12.2
8.6
12.4
Animals
15.1
11.4
13.0
Insects
2.9
4.8
2.8
Fish and Sea Creatures
0.0
1.0
0.3
Sounds of the Voice
28.8
32.4
18.0
Sounds of the Body
12.7
11.7
7.1
Sounds of Clothing
2.9
2.2
1.9
Humans in Groups
24.4
7.3
1.6
Rural
10.7
10.8
20.5
Town
11.2
5.1
0.6
Urban
5.9
5.1
4.7
Maritime
1.5
2.2
3.7
Domestic Soundscapes
8.8
7.0
8.1
Trades & Professions
4.4
10.5
3.4
Factories & Offices
3.4
1.9
1.6
Sounds of Entertainments
7.8
4.8
4.3
Music & Musical Instruments
5.9
14.9
5.0
Ceremonies & Festivals
1.0
7.3
1.9
Parks & Gardens
1.0
1.9
0.6
Sounds of Religions
0.5
3.8
0.9
Sounds of the Courts
1.0
2.5
0.0
Sounds of Buildings
0.5
1.9
2.2
Machines
3.4
1.0
0.9
Industrial & Factory Equipment
3.4
0.0
0.0
Internal Combustion Engines
2.0
1.0
0.9
Aircraft
2.0
0.6
0.0
Trains
3.4
0.3
2.5
Construction & Demolition Equipment
0.0
0.0
0.0
Mechanical Saws
0.0
1.0
0.6
Ventilators & Air Conditioners
0.5
0.0
0.0
Instruments of War & Destruction
3.4
11.4
0.9
General Descriptions of War
5.4
13.7
0.0
Farm Machinery
3.4
1.6
0.9
Sounds of Transportation
7.8
6.0
2.8
Bells & Gongs
16.1
8.9
6.8
Horns & Whistles
2.4
3.5
3.1
Sounds of Time
11.2
1.3
2.8
Warning Signals
3.9
4.1
3.7
Indicators of Future Occurrences
2.4
9.8
1.6
Telephones
0.0
0.3
0.3
Quiet & Silence
15.1
10.8
19.6
Echo & Reverberation
6.3
8.9
3.4
Similes
22.0
20.0
29.8
Cross-Cultural References
0.0
0.0
0.0
Sound as Magic
0.5
0.0
0.0
Sound Symbolism
0.5
2.9
2.8
Proverbs, Sayings, Epithets
0.0
0.0
0.3
Sounds of the Seasons
5.4
3.2
6.8
Sounds of Times of Day or Night
19.5
9.2
11.5

III. Percentage Classifications within Various Time Periods that have approximately the same number of quotes

TIME PERIOD
NATURAL SOUNDS
HUMANS SOUNDS
SOUNDS & SOCIETY
MECHANICAL SOUNDS
QUIET & SILENCE
BC
56.8
43.0
41.8
8.9
4.9
200 - 1790 AD
36.2
30.0
47.5
25.0
11.2
1810 - 1850
54.5
35.6
64.4
20.8
18.8
1860 - 1890
46.1
32.6
65.2
22.5
19.1
1910 - 1919
34.9
32.6
19.8
38.4
16.3
1920 - 1929
25.4
43.7
66.2
2.8
18.3
1930 - 1939
43.9
43.9
49.5
13.1
15.9
1940 - 1970
38.1
35.1
49.5
20.6
11.3



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