Class Notes and Tangents from 2/4/2010

Review the IPA. We recalled some of the ways of sorting sounds, e.g., between the
• voiced and voiceless fricatives (like the /ð/ in this versus the /θ/ in thin),
• hard and soft consonants (like /ʃin/ assure versus the /ʒ/ in azure) and
• the beginning alveolar sounds (like the /ɫʃ/ in church versus /dʒ/ in judge).

Vocal exercise. We experienced some of the mechanics involved with changing vocal tones—especially nasality. This brought up an interesting connection between voice quality and emotional condition.

Microphones and the experience of voice. David suggested that skillful use of a microphone can expand dynamic range. This raises another question. As storytellers today, is there a price to pay for dropping mechanical projection for electronic amplification? All things held equal, when would a storyteller want to drop a perfectly good microphone in favor of personal equipment?

The experience of language. Synthesia is translation from one kind of sense to another. For example, vocal stroking and grooming can and does translate from physical touch. Mime, of the kind popularized by Marceau, depends on synthesia to translate from sounded to silent language experience and his “art of silence.”

Mime as practiced by Rohan Atkinson in “The Invisible Drum Kit” draws the audience into a funny conversation between the performer and an imaginary set drums. While this performance was not a translation of sounded voice into silence, it did manage to translate an absence of a companion into the presence of one.

This also raises the recurring question (at least in our discussions) about how language works and the principles involved. The stimulating conversation between Atkinson and his drum set suggests that learning is taking place—not only within the performer and his own imagination but also between the performer’s imagination and the audience in participation. This recalls the notion of “mirror neutrons” in an earlier discussion in which we can and do experience the actions of others by translating them into our own. Are we hardwired for synthesia, and “synthetic experience”? If so, there is more to language than exchanging information as transmitting and receiving facts, figures and data bits.

The notion of synthesia tends to argue that we learn by transcending the world of personal experience and translating from the actions and experiences of others. The related concepts of “cross modal thinking,” “synthesia,” “mirror neutrons” and “multisensory integration” tend to suggest that about as much “good stuff” comes from the sensory experiences of others—from a collective intellect—as what comes from the memory and information collected. .


The Kiki/Bouba Effect. We continued this general discussion about the experience of language by looking at the famous study where audiences describe what is going on with two drawings, one of a pointy Kiki and the other a rounded Bouba. People all over the world, some of them preliterate, tend to attach similar contrasting characteristics to the two figures. This effect may have implications for the evolution of language, because the naming of objects is not completely arbitrary. The rounded shape may intuitively be named bouba because the mouth makes a more rounded shape to produce that sound, while a more taut, angular mouth shape is needed to articulate kiki. Hence, there may be some basis for “sound symbolism” in which case what we see may come from what we hear in natural order—that vision may begin with sounding.

Part of the discussion, at least for me, seemed to call to mind the most basic reference for language development. Most of the time, we default to a visual frame of reference. This discussion, however, would appear to suggest a primarily sonic or “sound-first” approach to referencing. Missing in visual referencing comes the question of what role, if any, does the sound of silence play in how the imagination operates? Visual referencing tends to assign a lesser role to the significance of silence just as sonic referencing pays little attention to hard stuff.

Comparative sentencing. We compared two passages from Shakespeare: “Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?” and “To be or not to be, that is the question.” We discovered that word sounds and vocal patterns go a long way to convey mood, attitude and sense of things to come—all well beyond the meaning of words and their rules of usage. Even the essential characters came alive by an examination of these two small passages in a way that many might find improbable if not impossible. The female voice as represented by Juliet’s passage is relatively open with longer vowels coming from farther back in the throat. The more male voice of Hamlet, by contrast, is more closed with shorter vowels formed more by teeth and lips.

We concluded by observing that form and content are highly related in such a way that they may very well merge on occasion to become inseparable. When this happens, we get the happy coincidence of sign and significance--a definite synthesis of form and content. When the two do match in this way, we benefit from a double sensing wherein the heart (emotional affect) becomes inseparable from the head (more about memory). The voices of the players are also highly related to social conditions. Nobody is watching Juliet enabling her to operate in a continuous way that is completely disarming whereas everybody is watching Hamlet rendering him discontinuous and self-protective. Synthesis of form and content in these two passages reveals that one (Juliet) is more the romantic springing from a Romance language whereas the other (Hamlet) is more the realist born of Scandinavian heritage. To continue in the same vein of happy coincidence, she sings legato to his staccato.

One vocal principle operating here is that vowels tend to carry and extend emotional intent whereas consonants break down long sounds into informational content. Juliet is ovular—sounding and sensing more from the back of the throat—as Hamlet is more dentate—up toward the front. This raised the suggestion that the sounds and phonemes we use tend to convey our emotional condition so that careful analysis of speech patterns can and does for Hamlet carry a resident anger when compared to Juliet (who reveals more of an ambient hunger?).

Class conversation then turned to popular characterizations found in Snow White and the Lion King. Snow White, the one of strong heart and great emotional affect goes up against a Snow Queen of fixed mind and territorial imperative. This predetermines speech sounds and vocal patterns. Similarly, in the case of “The Lion King,” Scar displayed a relatively cultivated, educated and emotionally distant voice compared to the “hearty” king. Do these examples suggest elements of class struggle represented as vocal styles?

Discussion of voices and their stories. We approached the relationship between voices and stories by listening to three separately recorded stories from different and fairly well-defined cultural backgrounds. The first was by Larry Hoover representing the Hispanic tradition (even though he claimed to be blue eyed and blond-haired), one from urban Italian experience with loss of community, and a third from Gwen Richards of African heritage who recalls her mother’s struggling with Alzheimers.

In one way, the series revealed a progression of emotional distancing and becoming personally objective. The first was relatively open, comparatively disarming and highly engaging—actively cultivating the audience. The second was more closed, reserved and objective—struggling to avoid emotional display. The third also struggled to maintain a relatively independent orientation. From this came one suggestion that vocal representation can signify educational background. Does “higher education” tend to carry a more discrete voice? Does the other extreme tend to imply emotional involvement and sense of belonging? When one culture calls another “uppity” or “pretentious,” can this also mean “highly educated”? When the second culture calls the first “authentic” or “unpretentious,” can this signify a certain lack of education? One idea worth considering as a common way of comparing voices is the notion of “thematic bubble” a metaphor that may come from geophysics and mapping technology. Is it just as useful to the worlds of mythology and storytelling?

Possibly, this kind of modeling enables a certain escape from the limitations of purely structural approaches to language and literature. Can it be that theme, content, central conflict and social struggle are just as suitable for serious discussion of language and storytelling? This is not as true in structural approaches. Continuing with the notion of “thematic bubble,” can it be that the tales we tell of others are typically reflections of the our own life stories?

Assignments:
1. Mail to David at novateller.org the workbook exercises on pp 38-41.
2. Finish Chapters 1-4 in the textbook up to the beginning of Chapter 5 on Syntax.
3. Read the Introduction through Chapter Two in Deborah Tannen’s Talking Voices.
4. No class next Thursday, February 11th.
5. David will send a listening assignment on The Moth. Respond on the blog with observations on narrative structure in relation to elements of discourse.