A theme of the age, at least in the developed world, is that people crave silence and can find none. The roar of traffic, the ceaseless beep of phones, digital announcements in buses and trains, TV sets blaring even in empty offices, are an endless battery and distraction. The human race is exhausting itself with noise and longs for its opposite—whether in the wilds, on the wide ocean or in some retreat dedicated to stillness and concentration. Alain Corbin, a history professor, writes from his refuge in the Sorbonne, and Erling Kagge, a Norwegian explorer, from his memories of the wastes of Antarctica, where both have tried to escape.
And yet, as Mr Corbin points out in "A History of Silence", there is probably no more noise than there used to be. Before pneumatic tyres, city streets were full of the deafening clang of metal-rimmed wheels and horseshoes on stone. Before voluntary isolation on mobile phones, buses and trains rang with conversation. Newspaper-sellers did not leave their wares in a mute pile, but advertised them at top volume, as did vendors of cherries, violets and fresh mackerel. The theatre and the opera were a chaos of huzzahs and barracking. Even in the countryside, peasants sang as they drudged. They don’t sing now.
What has changed is not so much the level of noise, which previous centuries also complained about, but the level of distraction, which occupies the space that silence might invade. There looms another paradox, because when it does invade—in the depths of a pine forest, in the naked desert, in a suddenly vacated room—it often proves unnerving rather than welcome. Dread creeps in; the ear instinctively fastens on anything, whether fire-hiss or bird call or susurrus of leaves, that will save it from this unknown emptiness. People want silence, but not that much. | Omulamwa gw'ennaku zino, okusingira ddala mu nsi ezakulakulana, kwekuba nga abantu bayayanira akasirikiriro. Ebivuga ebirekaana, amasimu agakuba olutatadde, ebirango mu baasi n'egaali zomukka, telefayina ezirekanira mu ma offisi nebwegaba nga makalu, byonna bibonyabonya omuntu era nebimuwugula. Abantu bekooya n'ebireekana era bayayanira akasirikiriro nga okubeera mu nsiko, ku gayanja oba okubeera mu bifo ebyatekebwawo abantu okuwumuliramu. Ebyo byawandikibwa Alain Corbin, omusomesa w'ebyafaayo, nga awandiika okuva mu kiddukiro kye e Sorbornne awamu ne Erling Kagge, omulambuzi ava e Norway, nga basinziira ku bijjukizo byebaalina bwebali baddukidde mu Antarctica. Naye ate Omwami Corbin agamba mu " Ebyafaayo by'akasirikiriro" nti, tetulina lwali lusinga olwaliwo edda. Nga emipiira egiriko olupiira nga teginabaawo, enguudo mu bibuga zalinga zijudde ekurekaana kw'emipiira gy'empaka n'emisinde gy'embalaasi ku mayinja. Nga abantu tebanemalira ku masimu, baasi n'eggaali z'omukka zawumanga nga abantu banyumya. Abatunzi b'amawulire tebagapanganga ku kkubo mu kasirise, naye bagakubiranga matalisi nga balekaanira waggulu. Abatunzi b'enkenene, ebimuli n'ebyenyanja nabo baakolanga bwebatyo. Awalabirwa emizanyo n'enyimba wajjulanga olwali nga abantu bakuba engalo n'enduulu. Mu byaalo, abarimi bayimbanga nga bakola emirimu. Ensangi zino tebakyayimba. Ekikyuse si essa ly'ebirekaana kubanga ab'ebyasa eby'edda nabo ebirekaana babyemulugunyangako. Ekyakyuka ly'essa ly'ebuwugula ebyadda awalibadde akasirikiriro. Ekibuzabuza kiri nti akasirikiriro bwekabeera mu kibira, mu ddungu ekkalu, mu kisenge ekikalu, omuntu atandika okukeganya mu kifo ky'okukanyumirwa. Okuwubaala kuyingirawo. Okutu kutandika okuwulira buli kantu ng'omuliro, obunyonyi, oba ebikoola by'omuti ebifuyibwa empewo nga kunonya ekinakuwonya ekiwubaalo. Abantu baagala akasirikiriro naye nga si kangi. |