Speaking Over the Words: Realizing Text into Audio

Sound is the medium of movement. One can remain on a page or freeze a film, but try to freeze sound, and silence is the result. Sound moves people; it is the human warning system when the body sleeps. Sound is “primal”; it is the basis of our communications and the first available sense of a fetus to the outside world.i Attempting to translate or adapt something into sound presents a plethora of concerns and challenges. This article situates this range of audio productions based on written texts, and explores how the process of transformation can be understood as both ‘translational’ and ‘adaptational.’ It will put forward a tentative model for understanding the dynamics of transforming a written text into audio form, taking into account what forms of audio production are currently available and how further study can open inroads to exploring audio productions.ii However, the model itself has distinct limitations, which will be explored in the second half of the article. The article will conclude by considering where future studies of text to audio production might lead. My main focus of interest centers on audio productions that have been taken from a print-first text, but even that discussion will need to include some exploration of written texts, radio, and even, film. The goal is to look at material intentionally written for the reading audience and consider how such material has been re-presented for a listening audience.iii My purpose consists of raising questions concerning the adaptation and translation of text into audio.