It would be nice if some Chinese or Middle-eastern zillionaire would be willing to pay to have the entire British Museum collection of Akkadian tablets (and other museums' holdings as well) scanned and digitalised and turned into more easily readable text for wider general access and translation. Would it be possible then to use machine translation for at least first-cut translations, using the existing body of already-translated works?
I have been saying for thirty-five years that the only way to read Finnegan's Wake is to read the whole thing aloud. Treat it as intended for auditory rather than written consumption.
I could well believe it. A quick search finds "While Finnegans Wake is very readable, unlike most books — which are solitary exercises — it is best read aloud and in a group."
(It's on my list. But so is Gravity's Rainbow, a complete Pratchett reread, and many other things I won't get to for quite some time, if ever.)
I did some voice to text work and movement to text work with the RSC and I'm definatly of the opinion that the best way to understand Shakespear is to read it aloud standing up. It's full of passages where the natural cadence of speaking it aloud puts emphasis on a particular word or phrase that unlocks the meaning of the passage or where your natural inclination to move or gesture when reading the text gives you information about what it means.
I think this is probably less true of more modern plays which I think are written to be understood, accessed and performed inside a theatrical technology that was initially developed by Shakespear and his contemporaries.
But thinking about some of my experiences as an actor in a more devised piece not hugely less true.
Because of the movement. If you are standing up you are more likely to gesture or move when reading. Even if you don't complete the movement the fact that you can feel yourself starting to make the movements can help you understand what the text means. If you are reading aloud a particular character's speech and standing you might naturally gesture towards where you image another character to be standing which tells you who your point of view character is addressing. If you feel enthused or energised when reading a speech, up on the balls of your feet, that tells you that the speech is probably intended to be a rousing call to arms. If you find yourself inclined to poke your fingers when making the speech that tells you that the speaking character is aggressive and argumentative.
And you feel the natural pauses more because you are working more of your body and the breath control matters more.
The RSC rehearsal process turns out to be very efficient and effective and surprisingly easy to do for a reasonably well organised amateur group.
You get a understanding of your character, a common understanding of the text and a good portion of the physical movement and other physical blocking all in one iterative process.
I've never used it with a modern playwright with a settled script but I've been involved in new works where the iterative process has flagged up the need for some re-writes.
There's an interesting series (radio or television, I can't recall) where Akala the British hip hop performer looks at Homer's epics and how they would work as semi-improvised spoken performance pieces. It's not quite on all fours with understanding Shakespeare by reading aloud but it has a similar conclusion, that the easiest way to get the guts of the literature is to read it aloud.
The RSC rehearsal process is basically speaking aloud and preferably with others. with someone else making helpful suggestions like "what would it be like if everyone in this scene were a dick?" or "later on in the play you stab this guy in the face, does your character know they are going to do that in this scene"?
on the process of reading and understanding writing on monuments and so on.
And was also watching a programme on paleotology in Wymoming where they were CT scanning the fossils.
I am now wondering if the most efficient way forward might not be just to CT scan all of the tablets on a conveyor belt and get an ML process to do the first pass translation and categorisation.
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andrewducker) wrote2023-03-05 12:00 pm
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https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25533981-400-how-the-secrets-of-ancient-cuneiform-texts-are-being-revealed-by-ai/
suggests that both are happening.
There is also a correction and a letter about the article.
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I feel the same way about most plays, to be honest. Shakespeare works far better for me spoken than trying to read him.
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I think that must have been what was intended at the time of writing.
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(It's on my list. But so is Gravity's Rainbow, a complete Pratchett reread, and many other things I won't get to for quite some time, if ever.)
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I think this is probably less true of more modern plays which I think are written to be understood, accessed and performed inside a theatrical technology that was initially developed by Shakespear and his contemporaries.
But thinking about some of my experiences as an actor in a more devised piece not hugely less true.
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Why does standing up make a difference?
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And you feel the natural pauses more because you are working more of your body and the breath control matters more.
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That’s fascinating thank you!
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You get a understanding of your character, a common understanding of the text and a good portion of the physical movement and other physical blocking all in one iterative process.
I've never used it with a modern playwright with a settled script but I've been involved in new works where the iterative process has flagged up the need for some re-writes.
There's an interesting series (radio or television, I can't recall) where Akala the British hip hop performer looks at Homer's epics and how they would work as semi-improvised spoken performance pieces. It's not quite on all fours with understanding Shakespeare by reading aloud but it has a similar conclusion, that the easiest way to get the guts of the literature is to read it aloud.
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Spend a while in Dublin - in dispreputable bars, if you're serious about it - and Finnegan's Wake will jest roll along for ye.
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https://acoup.blog/2023/03/03/fireside-friday-march-3-2023/
on the process of reading and understanding writing on monuments and so on.
And was also watching a programme on paleotology in Wymoming where they were CT scanning the fossils.
I am now wondering if the most efficient way forward might not be just to CT scan all of the tablets on a conveyor belt and get an ML process to do the first pass translation and categorisation.
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