Things cleared up. Somehow.
I ended up with a much simpler script than I started. Which I am happy about.
I gave up on a lot of ideas and points I wanted to make and stuck to the initial topic: language and meaning, English as a second language, bilingualism and identity.
I decided to stick to the text-to-speech voice since my ‘characters’ are mainly the foreigner as a multitude and the english omnipresent digital voice. Fluid identity.
The first minute is created through Google Translate. The following voices are a combination of Natural Readers and Murf.
I kept the sentences as simple and as short as possible. I find that this form, along with repetitions, works best when read out loud; it is easier to find rhythmic patterns and keep the listener’s attention.
I was weary of mentioning English (or any specific language) for a while in my script. I was trying to stay generic and speak of multilingualism in general. But that made it difficult for me to make a concise point.
I hope I do not sound condescending in my audio paper. It would be interesting to see how it sounds a few months later.
I recognize it is lacking a clear conclusion. But I think this is the right kind of ending for it. The last sentence is the famous line from Romeo and Juliet:
‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet!’
This is a concentrated form of the sort of detachment from language Yoko Tawada speaks about. I also like that it’s a question. And Shakespeare. The Holy Father of modern English.
I kept the sound effects simple and a lot of silence. Maybe too much? I like space. Yet I never know how much silence is too much in my own work. For this audio paper in particular, having the topic revolve around language and speech I feel like the narration itself is the sound effect through its qualities.
The fact that I ended up targeting the English language namely (and not just multilingualism) made me feel like a less affective approach in the soundscape would be better suited.
Also, the text itself is both personal and generic