The Dickens Code

狄更斯密码

• 批准号: AH/T009144/1
• 负责人: Claire Wood
• 金额: $ 4.21万
• 依托单位: University of Leicester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT009144%2F1
• 关键词: Dickens; Code

Shorthand was an important part of Dickens's toolkit as a writer, but although he used it extensively for parliamentary reporting, letter writing, and note taking, little is known about how he did so. The unique system that he developed, based upon Gurney's *Brachygraphy*, is complex and puzzling; Dickens himself called it a 'savage stenographic mystery'.There are at least 10 known manuscripts of Dickens's shorthand, dating from the 1830s to the late 1860s. These manuscripts are located in 6 archives across the world, as well as 2 private collections. Several manuscripts remain undeciphered, including a letter from the 1850s and a set of shorthand booklets collected by Dickens's shorthand pupil, Arthur Stone. These booklets, totalling c.70 pages, include 6 undeciphered shorthand dictation exercises of 1-2 pages each. Dickens's shorthand has proved extremely difficult to decode and, in most cases, experts have been unable to locate the source texts used for the exercises. They could be published or unpublished passages written by Dickens, or by another author. The mystery of these undeciphered texts is as compelling for the public as it is for academics and the sesquicentenary of Dickens's death in 2020 provides an ideal opportunity to harness wider interest in solving the 'Dickens Code'.The material is novel in its own right and the task of deciphering it provides a test case with implications far beyond Dickens Studies. An approach that combines machine learning's power to identify patterns across datasets with contextual interpretation by volunteers is likeliest to succeed. However, the limited corpus and idiosyncratic nature of Dickens's shorthand creates barriers to machine learning methods, while the complexity of the material places additional demands upon the human interpreter.Tackling these challenges offers a template for approaching similarly complex decoding problems (e.g. the ancient shorthand of the Vindolanda tablets), where human expertise and technology have to work hand-in-hand. However, to understand these challenges and identify potential solutions, the 'Dickens Code' problem needs to be viewed in the round. Accordingly, this project will convene a network that draws expertise from different disciplinary areas (Dickens Studies, Digital Humanities, Forensic Linguistics, and Informatics) and stakeholder groups (museums and archives).The network will meet at 2 symposia-'Digital Humanities and the Dickens Code' (Leicester, May 2020) and 'Textual Mysteries and Crowdsourced Solutions' (BSR, October 2020)-with discussion sustained between meetings via a Jiscmail list and blog. Network-generated insights will shape outputs, including an online exhibition of Dickens's shorthand. Additional targeted engagement of key user groups (primary school workshops; PG mini-Hackathon; Dickens Universe workshop) will ensure that outputs such as the 'Cracking the Code' resource, decoding games, and Zooniverse pilot are fit for purpose. The network's findings will also be collated and shared via a journal article, conference paper, blogs, podcasts, report for the *Dickensian*, 'top tips' toolkit, and social media.In Dickens Studies, enhanced understanding of the author's shorthand will lead to internationally significant insights about Dickens's creative process. For Informatics, the 'Dickens Code' may generate modified or novel approaches to handwritten coded material with broader applicability. In Digital Humanities, the 'Dickens Code' provides a template for engaging users with 'difficult' content. Beyond the Academy, increased public awareness of Dickens's shorthand will bring to light a little-known aspect of the life of one of the world's most famous authors. Throughout his career, Dickens sought to cultivate a close relationship with his readers; 150 years on, the 'Dickens Code' seeks to revitalise this connection, by enabling academics and non-academics to work together to uncover Dickens's last unknown texts.

速记是狄更斯作为作家的工具包的一个重要组成部分，但尽管他广泛地使用它进行议会报告，写信和做笔记，但很少有人知道他是如何做到的。他在格尼的“速记法”基础上发展出的独特系统复杂而令人费解;狄更斯自己称之为“野蛮的速记之谜”。目前已知的狄更斯速记法手稿至少有10份，时间从19世纪30年代到19世纪60年代末。这些手稿位于世界各地的6个档案馆以及2个私人收藏中。有几份手稿仍然没有被破译，包括一封19世纪50年代的信和一套由狄更斯的速记学生亚瑟斯通收集的速记小册子。这些小册子共约70页，包括6个未破译的速记听写练习，每个1-2页。事实证明，狄更斯的速记法极其难以破译，在大多数情况下，专家们无法找到练习所用的源文本。它们可能是狄更斯或其他作者写的已发表或未发表的段落。这些未被破译的文本之谜对公众和学术界都很有吸引力，2020年是狄更斯逝世150周年，这为利用更广泛的兴趣来解开“狄更斯密码”提供了一个理想的机会。这些材料本身就很新颖，破译它的任务提供了一个测试案例，其影响远远超出了狄更斯研究。将机器学习识别数据集模式的能力与志愿者的上下文解释相结合的方法最有可能成功。然而，狄更斯速记的有限语料和特殊性质为机器学习方法制造了障碍，而材料的复杂性对人类解释者提出了额外的要求。解决这些挑战为解决类似复杂的解码问题（例如文多兰达石碑的古代速记）提供了模板，在这些问题上，人类的专业知识和技术必须携手合作。然而，要理解这些挑战并确定潜在的解决方案，需要全面看待“狄更斯密码”问题。因此，本项目将建立一个网络，吸收不同学科领域的专门知识，（狄更斯研究，数字人文，法医语言学和信息学）和利益相关者团体（博物馆和档案馆）。该网络将在2个研讨会-“数字人文和狄更斯代码”（莱斯特，2020年5月）和“文本编辑和众包解决方案”（BSR，2020年10月）-通过Jiscmail列表和博客在会议之间进行讨论。网络产生的见解将影响产出，包括狄更斯速记的在线展览。关键用户群体的额外有针对性的参与（小学讲习班; PG迷你黑客;狄更斯宇宙讲习班）将确保“破解密码”资源、解码游戏和Zooniverse试点等产出符合目的。该网络的研究结果还将通过期刊文章、会议论文、博客、播客、* 狄更斯 * 报告、“顶级提示”工具包和社交媒体进行整理和分享。在狄更斯研究中，对作者速记的深入理解将导致对狄更斯创作过程的国际重要见解。对于信息学，“狄更斯代码”可以产生修改或新的方法，以更广泛的适用性手写编码材料。在数字人文学科中，“狄更斯准则”提供了一个让用户参与“困难”内容的模板。在学院之外，公众对狄更斯速记的认识的提高将揭示这位世界上最著名的作家之一生活中鲜为人知的一面。在他的整个职业生涯中，狄更斯试图与他的读者建立密切的关系; 150年过去了，“狄更斯密码”试图通过使学者和非学者共同努力，揭开狄更斯最后不为人知的文本，重振这种联系。