Throwing one’s voice and speaking for others: Performative vocality and transcription in the Assemblées of the long nineteenth century

This article examines the role of voice in practices representation nineteenth-century parliament. It asks how textual representations vocal political can be mobilized for histories politics and representation, such an enquiry complicate our understanding as a multifarious practice organized around speech. The takes particular case its point departure: that different Assemblées France, performances many transcription, reporting comment, those produced by increasingly professional class stenographers, journalists satirists. Tracing various ways which representatives ventriloquized others, were audiences commentators, it draws attention to acoustic aspects parliamentary speech, concept itself. We focus on representative quality vocality itself also consider representing speeches paper (e.g. transcripts or journalists). Finally, most importantly, we reflect use could make MP’s present even where his body was not. Thinking about French wide transnational context, argue including extra-linguistic speech analyses oratory might draw embodied served make, imagine sometimes disrupt beliefs national belonging – thus delving into understandings trustworthiness effectiveness beyond framework. Consequently, thinking with sound allows us think nation institutions when examining modern politics, development continued importance ventriloquial imaginations materialities