Friday, 28 February 2025

Tristan Corbière: 150 Years Later / Tristan Corbière : 150 ans après

So en francais / courtesy of the machine / with a few tweaks, my French is old now, but in another life I was never here but there..

Se souvenir d'un révolutionnaire poétique



Le 1er mars 2025 marque le 150ème anniversaire de la mort de Tristan Corbière, l'un des poètes français les plus innovants du XIXe siècle. Né Édouard-Joachim Corbière à Morlaix, en Bretagne, en 1845, il n'a vécu que 29 ans, mais sa voix continue de résonner un siècle et demi plus tard.

L'unique recueil publié de Corbière, "Les Amours jaunes" (1873), est initialement passé largement inaperçu. Ce n'est que lorsque Paul Verlaine l'a inclus dans "Les Poètes maudits" (1884) que son œuvre a commencé à recevoir la reconnaissance qu'elle méritait. Aujourd'hui, il est reconnu comme un précurseur du modernisme et du surréalisme, influençant des poètes de T.S. Eliot à Allen Ginsberg.

Il se trouve qu'un ouvrage commémoratif A3 et un livre ont été publiés par Françoise Livinec en 2013, l'histoire est des plus fascinantes car tout le travail était considéré comme perdu. Le matériel a été retrouvé en Écosse où il était détenu par une sœur de Jean Moulin, membre important de la Résistance française.

https://francoiselivinec.com/en/editions/catalogue/873/tristan-corbiere

Les Éditions Françoise Livinec ont alors publié le manuscrit inédit de Tristan Corbière, qui appartenait au résistant Jean Moulin. Intitulé Roscoff, cet album inédit contient 30 pages de textes et de peintures créés par le poète à la fin des années 1860. Une œuvre aussi moderne qu'humoristique et qui dépeint les contemporains de l'homme de lettres finistérien, qu'ils soient marins, mendiants, pilleurs d'épaves, gendarmes, touristes et autres marchands de passage.

"La redécouverte du manuscrit de Tristan Corbière, "Roscoff," a été attribuée à **Benoît Houzé**, doctorant en littérature française. Houzé s'est lancé dans une recherche méticuleuse de l'album longtemps perdu, qui avait disparu depuis 1875. Son enquête l'a conduit en Écosse, où il a réussi à retrouver et récupérer le manuscrit."

https://ncfs-journal.org/heather-williams/williams-corbiere-2012

Concernant l'ensemble de ses œuvres, une traduction très appréciée est celle de Christopher Pilling, disponible ici en pdf ou Epub https://universitypress.whiterose.ac.uk/site/books/m/10.22599/Corbiere/

Sur son unique publication de son vivant "Les Amours Jaunes", le regretté Christopher Pilling a également produit une version intitulée: "These Jaundiced Loves". Cette traduction en anglais est également très estimée.

Un poète entre les langues

Ce qui rend Corbière particulièrement fascinant est son approche linguistique unique. Se déplaçant entre le français standard et les expressions bretonnes, la terminologie maritime et le langage familier, il a créé une poésie multicouche qui défiait les conventions de son époque. Son œuvre incarne les tensions culturelles et linguistiques de la Bretagne – une région française avec son propre héritage celtique distinct.

Dans des poèmes comme "Le Bossu Bitor" et "Paysage mauvais", Corbière emploie le vocabulaire maritime, le dialecte breton et des changements dramatiques de registre pour créer une poésie qui semble étonnamment moderne même aujourd'hui. Sa technique de juxtaposition de différents registres linguistiques a anticipé des développements poétiques qui ne deviendraient courants que des décennies plus tard.

Même aujourd'hui, il y a beaucoup de débats sur les 'traductions' étant donné la difficulté du breton au français / breton / français à l'anglais.

Citations choisies

"Moi qui suis - Le poète qui ne fut pas - Et que jamais ne serai - Qui n'est pas né."

"I who am - The poet who never was - And never will be - Who was not born."

Cette célèbre auto-description tirée de "Le Poète Contumace" capture le sentiment de Corbière d'être en dehors de l'identité poétique traditionnelle.

"Bâtard de Créole et Breton, / Moi, je suis un poète, né / Pour n'être rien."

"Bastard of Creole and Breton, / I am a poet, born / To be nothing."

Ici, Corbière reconnaît son identité culturelle mixte et son statut d'outsider.

"J'ai vu le soleil dur contre les falaises / Fermer l'oeil, aveuglé de ces grandes fournaises..."

"I've seen the harsh sun against the cliffs / Close its eye, blinded by these great furnaces..."

Ces images maritimes vivantes tirées de "Paysage mauvais" démontrent sa capacité à transformer le paysage en terrain émotionnel.

Pourquoi Corbière compte aujourd'hui

La beauté de tout cela, c'est que 150 ans après sa mort, l'œuvre de Corbière me parle personnellement / le reste d'entre vous peut faire ce que vous faites :-)

Son expérimentation bilingue semble particulièrement pertinente d'un point de vue irlandais où les frontières linguistiques tentent de s'estomper. Son ironie, son autodérision et son examen de l'identité marginale résonnent avec les sensibilités contemporaines. Je vois cela / lis cela et je regarde les contemporains qui paradent?

Le fait que les grands critiques ne parviennent pas à s'accorder sur son œuvre et que les grands poètes y font référence est suffisant; Verlaine, TS Eliot, Ezra Pound - tous ont été attirés par l'œuvre de Corbière.

En tant que poète qui a refusé de rester dans les limites prescrites – de la langue, du style, du sujet – Corbière a anticipé la complexité de l'identité moderne. Son œuvre me rappelle que l'innovation existe souvent aux marges, dans les espaces entre les langues et les traditions et souvent après la mort.

Je lui rends hommage en tant que personnage historique et je reconnais un poète qui a prononcé des mots importants à son époque qui résonnent encore dans notre propre avenir.

Nous avons besoin des Corbière de ce monde plus que jamais...

Pour ceux qui se rendent à Morlaix:

Directions vers la tombe: Cimetière Saint-Augustin, 2 Rue des Réservoirs. Pour localiser précisément la tombe:

Entrez par la Rue Saint Augustin Montez environ deux tiers du chemin jusqu'à la petite chapelle À droite du chemin, derrière la chapelle, se trouve une autre chapelle miniature La tombe de Corbière s'y trouve, reconnaissable à sa croix de style celtique, sa grille en fer forgé et sa grande pierre en forme de livre.

--

Remembering a Poetic Revolutionary

March 1, 2025 marks the 150th anniversary of the death of Tristan Corbière, one of the most innovative French poets of the 19th century. Born Édouard-Joachim Corbière in Morlaix, Brittany, in 1845, he lived just 29 years but his voice continues to resonate a century and a half later.

Corbière's only published collection, "Les Amours jaunes" (1873), initially went largely unnoticed. It wasn't until Paul Verlaine included him in "Les Poètes maudits" (1884) that his work began to receive the recognition it deserved. Today, he is recognized as a precursor to modernism and surrealism, influencing poets from T.S. Eliot to Allen Ginsberg.

As it happens a celebratory A3 and book were published by Francoise Livinec in 2013, the story is most fascinating since all the work was considered lost. The material was traced to Scotland were it was held by a sister of Jean Moulin, a prominent member of the French Resistance. 

https://francoiselivinec.com/en/editions/catalogue/873/tristan-corbiere

Editions Françoise Livinec then published the unpublished manuscript by Tristan Corbière, which belonged to the resistance fighter Jean Moulin. Entitled Roscoff, this unpublished album contains 30 pages of texts and paintings created by the poet at the end of the 1860s. A work as modern as it is humorous and which depicts the contemporaries of the man of letters from Finistère, whether they are sailors, beggars, wreck looters, police officers, tourists and other passing merchants.

The rediscovery of Tristan Corbière's manuscript, "Roscoff," was credited to Benoît Houzé, a doctoral candidate in French literature. Houzé embarked on a meticulous search for the long-lost album, which had been missing since 1875. His investigation led him to Scotland, where he successfully traced and recovered the manuscript.

https://ncfs-journal.org/heather-williams/williams-corbiere-2012

On his overall works a highly rated translation is by Christopher Pilling is available here as a pdf or Epub https://universitypress.whiterose.ac.uk/site/books/m/10.22599/Corbiere/

On his single publication in his lifetime "Les Amours Jaunes" the late Christopher Pilling also produced a the version entitled: "These Jaundiced Loves". Again this translation to English is highly rated.

A Poet Between Languages

What makes Corbière particularly fascinating is his unique linguistic approach. Moving between standard French and Breton expressions, maritime terminology and colloquial speech, he created a multilayered poetry that defied the conventions of his time. His work embodies the cultural and linguistic tensions of Brittany – a French region with its own distinct Celtic heritage.

In poems like "Le Bossu Bitor" and "Paysage mauvais," Corbière employs maritime vocabulary, Breton dialect and dramatic shifts in register to create a poetry that feels startlingly modern even today. His technique of juxtaposing different linguistic registers anticipated poetic developments that wouldn't become mainstream until decades later.

Even today there is much debate on 'translations' given the difficulty of Breton to French / Breton / French to English.

Selected Quotations

"Moi qui suis - Le poète qui ne fut pas - Et que jamais ne serai - Qui n'est pas né."

"I who am - The poet who never was - And never will be - Who was not born."

This famous self-description from "Le Poète Contumace" captures Corbière's sense of being outside traditional poetic identity.

"Bâtard de Créole et Breton, / Moi, je suis un poète, né / Pour n'être rien."

"Bastard of Creole and Breton, / I am a poet, born / To be nothing."

Here Corbière acknowledges his mixed cultural identity and outsider status.

"J'ai vu le soleil dur contre les falaises / Fermer l'oeil, aveuglé de ces grandes fournaises..."

"I've seen the harsh sun against the cliffs / Close its eye, blinded by these great furnaces..."

This vivid maritime imagery from "Paysage mauvais" demonstrates his ability to transform landscape into emotional terrain.

Why Corbière Matters Today

The beauty of all this is that 150 years after his death, Corbière's work speaks to me personally / the rest of you can do what you do :-)

His bilingual experimentation feels particularly relevant from an Irish perspective where language boundaries try to blur. His irony, self-deprecation and examination of outsider identity resonate with contemporary sensibilities. I see this / read this and look at the contemporaries strutting?   

The fact that major critics cannot agree on his work and major poets reference it is enough; Verlaine, TS Eliot, Ezra Pound - all were drawn to the work of Corbière.

As a poet who refused to stay within prescribed boundaries – of language, of style, of subject matter – Corbière anticipated the complexity of modern identity. His work reminds me that innovation often exists at the margins, in the spaces between languages and traditions and often after death.

I pay homage to him as a historical figure and I recognize a poet who spoke important words in his own time that still echo into our own future.


For any who make their way to Morlaix:

Directions to the grave:

Saint-Augustin Cemetery, 2 Rue des Réservoirs. To locate the grave precisely:

Enter via Rue Saint Augustin

Go up about two thirds of the way to the small chapel

To the right of the path, behind the chapel, is another miniature chapel

Corbière's grave is there, recognizable by its Celtic-style cross, its wrought iron and its large book-shaped stone.









Tuesday, 25 February 2025

Domains For Sale / Rent

Due to retirement these domains are no longer required. Please do not bid in tens of Euros, dollars or pounds for any of these domains. Any serious offer for any domain will be given serious consideration.

To make an offer for any of these domains please contact the owner, Des Donnelly, via https://www.dd.ie/p/contact.html

Coffee related domains:

  • RCoffee.ie
  • revolutionary.coffee
  • revolutionarycoffee.com
  • revolutionarycoffee.org
  • revolutionarycoffee.net
  • revolutionarycoffee.co.uk

Other Domains:

  • Tokenomics.ie https://tokenomics.ie/
  • Socialonics.com https://socialonics.com/
  • Socialonics.co.uk 
  • Drax.net 
  • Drax.org 
  • Talkingtoclaude.com
  • IntellipromptLabs.com https://intellipromptlabs.com/
  • Intelliprompt.ie https://intelliprompt.ie/
  • Memeonics.com 
  • Memeonics.co.uk 

For any site currently active it is possible that the content, the purchased template and/or other functionality may be sold with the site. Not all domains may be available for rental agreement, this will depend on the offer you put forward.

Rexco.com is also for sale

The domain, rexco.com, is also for sale. Although whois shows registration as 1999 in reality I registered it in 1995 and it was my first domain. I have the original Network Solutions documentation. Unfortunately in moving from Netsol to Tucows it dropped over a weekend due to ‘pilot’ error.

https://web.archive.org/web/19961220200401/http://www.rexco.com


Monday, 23 December 2024

Maria Zakharova

 Happy birthday to the most talented / take no prisoners  Maria Zakharova..
С днем рождения..




Wednesday, 20 November 2024

Rethinking Mechanistic Interpretability: A Critical Perspective on Current Research Approaches

 Cross posted from https://www.talkingtoclaude.com/


Abstract

This paper presents a critical examination of current approaches to mechanistic interpretability in Large Language Models (LLMs). I argue that prevalent research methodologies, particularly ablation studies and component isolation are fundamentally misaligned with the nature of the systems they seek to understand.

I suggest a shift toward observational approaches that study neural networks in their natural, functioning state rather than through destructive testingwould be more constructive.

Aka I am totally anti LLM lobotomy!

Introduction

The field of mechanistic interpretability has emerged as a crucial area of AI research, promising to unlock the "black box" of neural network function. However, current methodological approaches may be hindering rather than advancing our understanding. This paper critically examines current practices and proposes alternative frameworks for investigation.
Recent research into mechanistic interpretability of Large Language Models (LLMs) has focused heavily on component isolation and ablation studies. A prime example is the September 2024 investigation of "successor heads" by Ameisen and Batson, which identified specific attention heads apparently responsible for ordinal sequence prediction. Their study employed multiple analytical methods including weight inspection, Independent Components Analysis (ICA), ablation studies, and attribution analysis.

The results revealed intriguing patterns: while the top three successor heads (layers 10, 11, 13) showed consistent identification across component scores and OV projection, layers 3 and 5 demonstrated high ablation effects despite low component scores. More notably, attribution analysis showed surprising disagreement with other methods, hinting at deeper methodological issues in current interpretability approaches.

These discrepancies point to fundamental questions about our approach to understanding LLMs. When researchers found that earlier layers (3 and 5) showed significant ablation effects without corresponding component scores, they hypothesized mechanisms like "Q/K composition with later successor heads" or "influence on later-layer MLPs." However, such explanations may reflect our tendency to impose human-interpretable narratives on statistical patterns we don't fully understand.

The field's current focus on destructive testing through ablation studies assumes a separability of neural components that may not reflect reality. Neural networks likely operate in highly coupled, non-linear regimes where removing components creates artificial states rather than revealing natural mechanisms. The divergence between different analytical methods suggests we may be measuring artifacts of network damage rather than understanding genuine functional mechanisms.

This misalignment between methodology and reality mirrors broader challenges in AI research, where complex mathematical frameworks and elaborate theoretical constructs may serve more to maintain academic authority than to advance genuine understanding. The field's tendency to anthropomorphize LLM behaviors and search for hidden capabilities reflects our human psychological need to make the unfamiliar familiar, even at the cost of accurate understanding.

Current Methodological Limitations

The Ablation Fallacy

Current interpretability research heavily relies on ablation studies - the systematic "disabling" of network components to understand their function. This approach suffers from several fundamental flaws:

  • It assumes circuit locality and separability that may not exist in highly interconnected neural networks

  • Networks likely operate in highly coupled, non-linear regimes where "removing" components creates artificial effects

  • Observed impacts may reflect network damage rather than natural mechanisms

  • Researchers risk confusing entropy increase with mechanism discovery

..please visit my Substack for more in this vein..
https://www.talkingtoclaude.com/p/rethinking-mechanistic-interpretability


Saturday, 14 September 2024

Non-linear Manifolds

 A chicken crossing the road of Multi-Dimensional Reasoning could never answer why, I presume time is the imperative..




Prompt: good evening, what does "non-linear manifolds" mean in an LLM context?

1. Manifolds as the Backbone of LLM Understanding:

Large Language Models (LLMs) organize language data on non-linear manifolds that twist, fold, and curve to capture the complexity of relationships between words and concepts in high-dimensional spaces. This structure is fixed post-training but dynamically navigated during interactions.

2. Fixed Manifolds with Dynamic Responses:

While the manifolds themselves are fixed after training, the LLM’s ability to explore different parts of these manifolds allows it to generate dynamic, context-specific responses to user prompts, creating the impression of adaptability and intelligence.

3. The Primacy of the Prompt:

The prompt serves as the crucial interface between the user and the LLM, guiding the model’s journey through the manifold and determining the quality of the response. Well-crafted prompts lead to more precise, creative, or insightful outputs, making prompt design a vital skill for interacting with LLMs.

4. Contextual Nuance in Prompts:

The context and tone of a prompt, such as an anthropological or philosophical framing, can significantly influence how the LLM responds. The model retrieves information from different conceptual domains depending on the specific context provided by the prompt.

5. Cross-Manifold Navigation:

LLMs can combine knowledge from multiple manifolds when responding to complex prompts. For example, a prompt that asks for an analysis of wild animals in literature requires the LLM to pull from both animal knowledge and literary references, blending concepts from different domains.

6. The Evolution of Prompting as a Skill:

As LLMs become more sophisticated, prompt engineering will emerge as a core skill in various fields. The ability to craft precise, context-rich prompts will differentiate basic interactions from highly productive or creative ones, making prompt design essential for effective use of AI systems.

7. LLMs as Reflectors of Cultural and Philosophical Thought:

LLMs not only retrieve factual information but can also reflect cultural, philosophical, and symbolic perspectives based on how users prompt them. This (will maybe some day when the leash is off) make LLMs powerful tools for exploring and generating nuanced, reflective, or even humorous content.

8. Dynamic Real-Time Interpretation:

LLMs interpret each prompt in real-time, dynamically navigating the manifold to provide responses that reflect both semantic relationships (meaning) and syntactic structure (grammar). This makes interactions feel adaptive, even though the manifold itself remains static. (interestingly this does morph somewhat when the Prompt necessitates the use of multple manifold, in that scenario I would contend that the response becomes even more dynamic, but that is just a theory at this time)

9. Shaping Future Discourse with AI:

As AI systems become more integrated into everyday life, prompts will play a role in shaping cultural production, from art to media to public discourse. The way users frame prompts will influence how AI-generated content reflects and may serve to shape societal values, trends, and creative expression.

10. LLM’s Role in Human-AI Collaboration:

The future of human-AI interaction will heavily rely on the collaborative power of prompts. Prompts will guide LLMs in generating solutions to complex problems, creative works, or even collaborative insights. The interaction between human intent and AI reasoning will be driven by the art of prompt crafting.

These takeaways capture the core of the conversation, highlighting the importance of manifold structures, the dynamic role of prompts, and the evolving relationship between humans and AI as these systems continue to grow more powerful.


Read the full article here:

https://www.talkingtoclaude.com/p/non-linear-manifolds


This was intended to be an article from a discussion with Claude Sonnet on biomimicry (coming soon), alas I ran out of tokens at a most important juncture. :-(

.