The close reading of a text can in some cases reveal much more substance than other methods. In the case of the Powell diary, close reading has enabled us to learn about the lives of Shamokin residents, both native and Moravian, in great depth. According to Pierazzo, we conducted a diplomatic edition; a transcription that is reproduced in modern print containing as much of the original transcribed text as allowed. It is also important to note that the terms diplomatic edition and transcription are related to two distinctly different objects. She represents the relationship in this clever metaphor:
“the source contains the ingredients, the scripts contain the recipe, and the output represents the cooked dish.”
According to Pierazzo, our ingredients were the Powell Diary entries, our transcription was the recipe, and our finished TEI-compliant XML markup and subsequent publication was the cooked dish. It is important to examine the process of tagging via TEI-compliant XML markup in order to, like Pierazzo explains, observe how the diplomatic edition and transcription differ.
TEI-compliant XML markup is a process wherein documents of scholarly interest are encoded in such a way that elements of the text are “highlighted” and defined through specific tags that relate to date, time, affiliation etc. For example, a certain word, “Sabbath”, is known as the day of rest by Abrahamic religions. Thus, it can be tagged since it relates to time, but also can be further categorised into a “day” but also that it is “religious”, see below.
A potential argument that could arise from such tagging would be whether the “Sabbath” refers a specific weekday, being either Saturday or Sunday. Therefore, when tagging a text, there must be consistency; if “Sabbath” was in one instance tagged as being Saturday and in another instance tagged as Sunday, then they would in fact be unrelated (based on tagging). This could in fact occur because according to Christians, the Sabbath refers to Sunday whilst Jews consider Saturday the Sabbath. So, the tagging must remain the same for the entire text.
In the case of our class there were several students tagging different Powell Diary entries and thus we needed to decide on how to tag recurring elements or words. Moreover, the spelling of words was inconsistent in the text and varied greatly. It was therefore necessary to standardise the spelling of names such as “Shikellamy”, the Indian chief, and other locations that were represented by a variety of spellings.
Names, places, titles and affiliations are not the only elements included in TEI markup. As seen below, the state of someone’s wellbeing can also be tagged.
This gives extra depth to the text and further categorisation. It also demonstrates that there is really no limit to tagging, which can be worrisome. Some authors become obsessed with tagging and this can cause the “cooked dish” to become increasing less connected to the original ingredients.
Comments
3 responses to “#tagging”
I agree with your statement that the close reading of a text can in some cases reveal much more substance than other methods. I believe that the close readings of the Powell Diary was the most important part of the whole transcription process. With close readings we are not only able to better understand specific texts, but are also able to gain a better understanding of the history and culture behind the people who wrote these specific texts. In addition, without the close readings of the Powell Diary, our class would not have been able to interpret the meaning of specific words and therefore would have not been able to move forward in the TEI markup. I think that you stated a very valid point and I also think that close readings is a pivotal part of the transcription process.
I really like your quote “the source contains the ingredients, the scripts contain the recipe, and the output represents the cooked dish.” As a cook, he should make the cooked fish edible but keep the flavor of the ingredient as much as possible. I think you present this point very well by using an example of our in-class activity. I agree that as a translator, we should not be obsessed with tagging. A brief explanation is enough.
I like your argument that close readings reveal more about the text and I also appreciated the reference to the ingredients, recipe, and cooked dish. I think you did a good job supporting all of your arguments. I also liked how you included the state of someone’s wellbeing. I decided only to indirectly mention that in my blog post because of the fact that it was rarely used and only a small part of our marking up.