On May 27th, CETAPS organized an Open Day at the Digital Lab, offering the public a unique opportunity to engage with the innovative projects developed at this research hub. Among the standout projects showcased was the Shakespeare translation memory database. The platform is developed by CETAPS’ researchers and its goal is to create a repository on Portuguese translations of Shakespeare’s works.
Translating Shakespeare presents multiple challenges, his plays are replete with archaic expressions, complex wordplay and cultural references that can be difficult to convey in another language. That’s why having a platform like Shakespeare translation memory database is so significant.
To better introduce the project to people who attended the event, we organized two types of activities. In the first activity, participants randomly selected a word from a pre-existing list and searched for it on the data base. This exercise emphasized the diversity of translations for a single word, showcasing how useful the platform can be to provide different interpretations in an easy reading side by side visualization.
In the second activity, participants were invited to scan QR codes that directed them to the Voyant tools webpage, an online platform designed for text analysis. Participants could delve into various analysis options for the selected words, such as frequency analysis and contextual exploration. This task demonstrated the platform’s potential for facilitating and offering new perspectives on Shakespeare’s works.
These interactive tasks conducted on the Open day were very important to demonstrate in an engaging and interactive way the functionality and value of the Shakespeare translation memory database. Moreover, they also proportionated an opportunity to gather feedback from the public which is essential for refining and enhancing the platform to make it even more complete.