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Who's the Dummy: A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
1. A Poetics of
Medically Enforced
Ventriloquism
WHO’S THE
DUMMY?
Talan Memmott, PhD
Winona State University
Creative Digital Media
2. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
I WANT TO TALK
Talan Memmott, PhD
about what it means to lose one’s voice; what it means to have one’s voice literally extracted from the body; what it means to be rendered speechless.
3. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
I WANT TO TALK
Talan Memmott, PhD
about the extirpation of the means of vocalization as a life saving measure; what it means to choose between living and speaking, and how this sudden loss of
agency affects wholesale changes in communication, from method and annunciation to reception and response; how it affects creative practice, aesthetic
sensibilities, pedagogy, and professional performance; how the sudden absence of voice affects quality of life. How it affects not only speech but writing as well.
4. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
I WANT TO TALK
Talan Memmott, PhD
about the slow return to speech; the technologies and therapeutics of rehabilitation, restorative technologies; the mechanically and methodologically altered habits
of speech; how the available technologies for a restored bodily voice are rudimentary, insufficient, and sometimes barbaric.
5. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
I WANT TO TALK!
Talan Memmott, PhD
What you are hearing now is my unassisted alaryngeal voice, if you want to call it a voice.
I am what you call a NECKBREATHER. My nose and mouth are no longer connected to my lungs. Inhalation and exhalation are performed through a
hole in my neck, a stoma.
This is due to a total laryngectomy necessitated by advanced throat cancer. I am a SURVIVOR.
Without a voice box, and with no air being pushed through the mouth and nose
These sounds are the only vocalization I am capable of, naturally. But WOULD WE CALL THIS SPEECH?
6. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
I WANT TO TALK!
Talan Memmott, PhD
7. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
Talan Memmott, PhD
TEXT TO SPEECH
• ABSENCE OF PAROLE
• DISEMBODIED VOICE
• SPEAKER AS LISTENER
• NOT SPONTANEOUS
8. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
Talan Memmott, PhD
TEXT TO SPEECH
• ABSENCE OF PAROLE
• DISEMBODIED VOICE
• SPEAKER AS LISTENER
• NOT SPONTANEOUS
9. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
Talan Memmott, PhD
Asparagus
8-bit Starter Kit
MEDIEVAL ROBOT DANCE PARTY
TEXT TO SPEECH
10. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
Talan Memmott, PhD
VOICE CLONING
My Molly Departed
Electronic Literature in Europe Bergen
Norway
2009
• ABSENCE OF PAROLE
• SPEAKER AS LISTENER
• NOT SPONTANEOUS
• FAMILIAR VOICE
• SIMULATED PRESENCE
11. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
Talan Memmott, PhD
ELECTROLARYNX
• SPONTANEOUS
• ROBOTIC VOICING
• DIFFICULT TO MANAGE
• UNINTELLIGIBLE
NO BREATH
• REQUIRES THE USE OF A HAND
12. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
Talan Memmott, PhD
TRACHEOESOPHAGEAL VOICE PROSTHESIS
• SPONTANEOUS
• CLOSER TO NATURAL VOICE
• EASY TO MASTER
• INTELLIGIBLE
• REQUIRES THE USE OF A HAND
13. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
Talan Memmott, PhD
SYRINX ARTIFICIAL LARYNX
• SPONTANEOUS
• CLOSER TO NATURAL VOICE
• INTELLIGIBLE
• HANDS FREE!
• ADDITIONAL HARDWARE
14. WHO’S THE DUMMY? A Poetics of Medically Enforced Ventriloquism
Talan Memmott, PhD
SPEAKING FOR THE DUMMY
the puppet masters have lost control of
the methods to confidently deal with
that thing in your mouth
and the external economy of words
as it happens in every country
on campervans or barbecues
the voice of a persona
will not make you a ventriloquist
along with sideshows and clowns
the likes of miley cyrus
involves soul switching, which
can be used just like a dummy
an almost zen-like course of articulation and breathing
will help prevent the growth of fungus
CLONED VOICE
TTS
TRACHEOESOPHAGEAL VOICE PROSTHESIS
ELECTROLARYNX
Editor's Notes
The electrolarynx was invented in the 1920s and hasn’t really changed much since then. They may be more efficient, but the concept hasn’t changed much. To my mind the electrolarynx, though some laryngectomees swear by them, is more of a novelty than a tool for quality communication. Sure, it allows for more freedom in speech, but the monotonous robotic tone can be offputting. It is also very difficult to use. Without practice, Speech is nearly unintelligible. There is the added problem of lugging the thing around, and that you need a free hand to make use of the device.
Though it brings voice back to the body, the robotic monotone lacks affect, and there is still the absence of breath.
That said, I have used it as an instrument in some music projects however. And, I suppose it could be used if you need a robot voice for a project. Or, for Peter Frampton Karaoke… Do you feel like I do!
The Tracheoesophageal Voice Prosthesis, which is how I am speaking now, came along in the early 70s. The technology is rather simple. The implant is placed between the trachea and the esophagus. By occluding the stoma, exhaled air is redirected through the implant’s one way valve, to the pharynx. The air causes the esophagus to vibrate and function as something of a substitute larynx.
Though the technology is simple, and its implementation a bit barbaric -- requiring a puncture between the trachea and esophagus, the resulting speech is perhaps the most natural. Though there is not much control over pitch, as the vibrations in the pharynx are far less nuanced than those in the larynx, we do have a return of breath, a return of the voice being produced through corporeal action.
There is no longer the chiromantic ventriloquism of say text to speech, with its delays between written utterance and its external verbal, not oral, production -- the mouth is not involved. That said, even this speech connects the hand to the voice, by requiring the occlusion of the stoma.
I’d say, with the TEP, talking involves both hands. At least for me. I catch myself using one hand to occlude and the other for emphasis, out of fear of my speech not being necessarily clear.
The TEP does have some drawbacks, it takes daily maintenance, can get clogged easily, and requires periodic replacement, usually 4-6 times a year. The replacement process is not pleasant. Still, the trade off is worth it. The implant allows for a more natural parole and spontaneity in speech. A return to orality. And with this comes a return of agency through more immediate and direct communication… which is significant in regard to self advocacy in the US healthcare system.
My apologies if my talk comes across as self-indulgent, or too specifically focused on a personal phenomenology of recovery or disability. With only 10,000 laryngectomees in the US, laryngeal cancer survivors don’t get the media focus or accommodations of some other higher profile diseases. And, the technologies for speech rehabilitation are much in need of advancement. Though there are projects, such as the Syrinx artificial larynx being developed in Japan, which combines voice cloning and electrolarynx technology, this project misses some key factors in rehabilitation and agency. Though this unit is handsfree, again breath is removed from the equation. And, speech does not emanate from the mouth; rather it emitted through an amplifier carried around in the chest pocket of the user. To my mind, I am not sure this is an advancement; but as a piece of wearable technology it is fairly interesting.
I’d like to close out my talk by doing a little poetry reading experiment… Having all of my available voices read one of my google search sonnets that I found appropriate to the context of this talk… I’ll let you determine who’s the better reader.
