The Monograph “Listening to the Swan Song” edited by Piotr Kociumbas and Joanna Godlewicz-Adamiec now available in Open Access

In May 2026, the publishing house De Gruyter Brill (V&R unipress) released the multi-authored monograph Listening to the Swan Song. More-than-Human Beings and Sounds in Literature and Culture Through the Ages, edited by Piotr Kociumbas and Joanna Godlewicz-Adamiec. The volume examines the ways in which literature and culture across different historical periods – including from the perspective of the post-Anthropocene – have responded to the sounds produced by more-than-human beings. The study encompasses both symbolic and literal representations of these voices, demonstrating how they shape human imagination and interspecies relations.

The book is divided into three parts. The first is devoted to the analysis of symbolic soundscapes, the second focuses on interspecies encounters and exchanges, while the third highlights ethical and technological efforts aimed at protecting endangered animals and commemorating those that have already become extinct. The guiding motif of the swan song employed throughout the volume offers an innovative interpretation of this topos: on the one hand, it refers to the ancient symbol of dying and to the metaphor of an artist’s final, culminating work; on the other, it points to the direct experience of sounds produced by more-than-human beings, especially in the context of the real threat of their extinction.

In addition to extensive introductory remarks by the editors, the volume contains ten chapters written by scholars affiliated with academic institutions in Australia (University of Western Australia), Belgium (KU Leuven), Germany (Ruhr University Bochum, University of Hamburg, University of Münster), the United States (Brandeis University), the United Kingdom (University of Lincoln), Italy (University of Bologna), and Poland (University of Łódź). The publication constitutes the eleventh volume in the series Culture – Environment – Society. Humanities and beyond and is also available in Open Access format.