When Hebrew Met the Machine

What happens when an ancient language meets modern technology? This lecture
will discuss the role played by media technologies—such as the phonograph,
typewriters, the telegraph, and computers—in the revitalization and
modernization of Hebrew since the end of the nineteenth century. After lying
dormant for two millennia as a mainly written language, Hebrew awoke from its
literary slumber and became a living modern vernacular. The revitalization of
Hebrew is unique and unprecedented in world history, and it has been studied
in various fields; but the role of modern media technologies in mediating this
revival has not yet been considered. This lecture will delve into questions
such as: what was the role of sound recording technologies in shaping the
reemerging modern Hebrew speech? And how did the Hebraized typewrite pushed
for the modernization of writing in Hebrew?. It will show how these media,
whose emergence ran in historical parallel to the revitalization of Hebrew,
were an active force in shaping the language as a modern communicative medium.
Hebrew was a historical media lab: written from right to left and in unique
script, it posed technical as well as conceptual challenges to media which
were originally designed for Latin script and Western writing systems. The
adaptation of these technologies to Hebrew required various adaptations that
shaped lingual mechanisms, which had social and political ramifications on the
emerging Hebrew culture.

Organized by: U-M Frankel Center for Judaic Studies

View event on Jlive: https://jlive.app/events/13596