Conceived as a non-musical counterpart to the course in ethnomusicological
transcription and analysis, the present course combines historical,
theoretical, and methodological examination of the processes and purposes
of transcription and textmaking with practical experimentation.  We will
consider how speech is and has been  rendered graphically and
instrumentally, how words are made into texts.  A broad survey of the
approaches used in folklore and other disciplines (including oral history,
conversation analysis, ethnopoetics, linguistic anthropology) will be
complemented by intensive engagement with the textmaking process, using
both
assigned materials and those brought to the seminar by participants.  The
course will require reading, discussion, and exercises both small and
large. Students with materials from their own research are especially
encouraged to bring them into the course proceedings.