Tweet-Tweet Theories: Birds and Mimesis at the Origins of Human Communication

This short essay elaborates on theories of the onomatopoeic origins of human language across Western cultural history, concentrating on three moments (classical period of ancient Greek philosophy, the Enlightenment, and contemporaneity) and on birdsong as the main source of inspiration for human vocal articulation. The article engages with the contradictions inherent to mimicry and imitation, understood symultaneously as emancipatory gestures opening up to the more-than-human soundscape, and as apparatuses of capture, especially in its engagement with artist Michela De Mattei's performance series "Estée Lauder" (2015-2022). Drawing on research in paleoanthropology, ancient semiotics, and sound studies, Tweet-Tweet Theories considers the endless fascination exercised by non-human actors (particularly of birds) in theories on the origins of human language.