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 They could be published or unpublished passages written by Dickens, or by another author.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（Dickens）作为作家工具包的重要组成部分，但尽管他广泛地将其用于议会报告，写信和笔记，但对他的做法知之甚少。他基于Gurney的 *Brachygraphy *而开发的独特系统是复杂而令人困惑的。狄更斯本人称其为“野蛮的速度神秘”。至少有10种狄更斯速记的手稿，其历史可以追溯到1830年代至1860年代后期。这些手稿位于世界各地的6个档案中，以及2个私人收藏。几个手稿仍然没有被剥夺，包括1850年代的一封信，以及狄更斯的速记学生亚瑟·斯通（Arthur Stone）收集的一套速记小册子。这些小册子总计C.70页，包括6个未剥离的速记练习，每张1-2页。事实证明，狄更斯的速记很难解码，在大多数情况下，专家无法找到用于练习的源文本。它们可以由狄更斯或其他作者撰写或未发表的段落出版或未发表的段落。这些未掩盖的文本的奥秘对公众来说是令人信服的，就像对学者一样，狄更斯（Dickens）在2020年去世的倍年期间，为解决“狄更斯代码”的兴趣提供了理想的机会。该材料本身是新颖的，材料本身是新颖的，而这项案例的任务则提供了远远超越迪肯森研究的示威案例。一种结合机器学习能力的方法，可以将数据集的模式与志愿者的上下文解释结合在一起，这是成功的可能性。但是，狄更斯速记的语料库和特质性质有限，为机器学习方法造成了障碍，而材料的复杂性则对人类解释者提出了更多要求。解决这些挑战为处理类似复杂的解码问题的模板提供了一个模板（例如，Vindolanda tables的古老肖尔德（Vindolanda）片剂的古代肖尔德（Vindolanda）片剂），在那里，人类的专业知识和技术需要进行往来。但是，要了解这些挑战并确定潜在的解决方案，需要在一轮中查看“狄更斯代码”问题。因此，该项目将召集一个网络，该网络从不同的学科领域（狄更斯研究，数字人文科学，法医语言学和信息学）和利益相关者群体（博物馆和档案馆）（博物馆和档案馆）。通过Jiscmail列表和博客之间的会议之间维持会议。网络生成的见解将塑造输出，包括狄更斯速记的在线展览。关键用户群体（小学研讨会； PG迷你黑客；狄更斯宇宙车间）的其他有针对性的参与将确保诸如“破解代码”资源，解码游戏和世界ZooniversePilot之类的输出适合目的。该网络的发现还将通过期刊文章，会议论文，博客，播客， *Dickensian *，'Top Tips'Toolkit和Social Media.IN COMERIAD媒体进行整理和共享。在Dickens研究中，对作者的速记的了解将提高对狄更斯创造性过程的国际重要见解。对于信息学，“狄更斯代码”可能会生成具有更广泛适用性的手写编码材料的修改或新颖的方法。在数字人文科学中，“狄更斯代码”为吸引“困难”内容的用户提供了模板。除了学院之外，人们对狄更斯速记的公众意识不断提高，这将使世界上最著名的作者之一的生活中鲜为人知。在整个职业生涯中，狄更斯试图与读者建立密切的关系。 150年以来，“狄更斯代码”试图通过使学者和非学术学能够共同揭示狄更斯的最后一个未知文本来振兴这种联系。