The senses of the voice loss

Abstract

We researched the relation between subjectivity and voice loss. We conjecture that the existence of vocal problems, involving the possibility of voice loss, determines the subjectivity in a way that the voice, to the people that use it professionally, may have different value and meaning from those who do not use it. Objective: investigate the senses of the voice loss for voice professionals and voice non-professionals, with and without vocal complaint. Methods: twelve people were interviewed from the key-question: "what does it come to your mind when I speak about voice loss?" these interviews were analyzed according to Spink (2000) proposal that treats about discursive practices and production of senses. Results: Four categories emerged from the analysis: affection, action, physical state and social dimension. The participants with vocal complaint gave more negative affective sense to the voice loss and mentioned more factors of vocal harm, including their own affective states and several diseases. The voice subjeprofessionals gave sense to the necessity of voice to their jobs as a vital tool and they were the ones who mostly approached vocal care. The voice non-professionals gave a strong sense to the necessity of voice for communication and from these, only the ones with complaint mentioned vocal cares. Final considerations: the factor "vocal complaint" was more relevant concerning the presence of marks on the subjectivity than the factor "voice professional". We have made considerations upon the importance of the speech and language therapist to value the affective state and to be aware of the subjective issues in the treatment of people with vocal complaint.