philosophy question

[NoJo]

Hmmm, well, second language. I guess English is my second language because I did not speak it at home. The first language I used to communicate was not English. I'm more comfortable in English now than in my first language, but that's not the point. Or is it?

A few years ago the novelist Eva Hoffman wrote a book called "Lost in Translation". I was excited when I first saw the title of the Coppola film, thinking that they'd adapted this novel. But they hadn't. Shame.

"Lost in Translation" is all about a bilingual kid living in a sort of split world of two languages when she emigrates to Canada. The title refers to an untransalteable Polish word for a kind of nostalgia.


Eva unravels her own story—the story of how her own identity is lost in translation. For Eva, language is a constitutive element of the self. Lost in translation are the different parts of her personal identity that derive meaning from language and speech. The most apparent loss is the spontaneous and natural quality of her speech. In the strain of translating a Polish word to its English equivalent, or vice versa, the spontaneity of her response is lost In translation, Eva has to impose her will on her language, but this imposition turns her speech into what she calls “an aural mask that doesn't become me or express me at all”. To Eva, her speech has become something which is forced and false...


It's an interesting book, that makes you think about how important a part of your personaility your language is.

 

[damppanties]

Wow! Josh, that touched me. I somehow feel the same, like I don't belong anywhere, language-wise. I can't speak my mother tongue the way people in my house do and I do have a better command over English than most of the people I interact with. You can't believe the distance it creates. I constantly get conscious of how I speak. And then I don't really belong in the enlish speaking crowd because it's supposed to be my 'second language'.

Yes, language is a large part of my identity.

The whole thing is pretty weird.

 

[Black Tulip]

Very interesting. Going along with that thought, you can speak of a second language if you are able to express your personality to the full (in a language other than your first).

Hm, wondering how many Lit writers are capable of that in their own language?

Funny aside: writing for Lit is easier in English and it flows better than in my own language. Is that because English is sexier than Dutch?

 

[damppanties]

Funny aside: writing for Lit is easier in English and it flows better than in my own language. Is that because English is sexier than Dutch?

God! Don't even go there. I recently thought about writing in my language for Lit (because of Survivor) and I think I'm going to give it up. What sounds sexy in English sounds kind of vulgar in my own language.

 

[Pure]

Damp: You act as if there's something wrong with vulgarity!

Thought for the day: Outside the hallowed halls of Lit, in ordinary company (English), say "My cunt itches," and see how you're regarded!



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Sub Joe: Sounds like a fascinating book. The autobiographical memoir Hunger of Memory [Rodriguez] reports a writer's loss of emotional connection to family, and in general, in taking up (becoming a master of, and living/working mostly in) a second language [English]). Losing the immediacy of first language connections in intimate matters.

 

[damppanties]

You act as if there's something wrong with vulgarity!

Thought for the day: Outside the hallowed halls of Lit, in ordinary company (English), say "My cunt itches," and see how you're regarded!

Hmmm. Pure, I'll try to explain. I won't use 'cunt' in my stories unless I'm going for a vulgar effect, and I do go for a vulgar effect, nothing wrong with it. Mostly I use 'pussy' in my stories, which, to me, is softer and sexier.

In my native language, there's no pussy. There's a word for the female genital place (yuck, I can't beleive I used that phrase) which is 'chhoot'. That is used by people if you want to degrade someone. It's almost impossible for me to write a loving sexual story in my language and I don't know why I would want to do a nonconsent/ vulgar one just because there are no right words.

Hope I explained right.

 

[Pure]

In my native language, there's no pussy.

How sad! No affectionate slang: muff, fur, mouse, kitty, beaver??

(Are we talking Hindi, here? sorry I forgot.)

 

[damppanties]

In my native language, there's no pussy.

How sad! No affectionate slang: muff, fur, mouse, kitty, beaver??

(Are we talking Hindi, here? sorry I forgot.)

No to the first question and yes to the second.

 

[Black Tulip]

I do use words like cunt in my stories, and in certain company I use the Dutch equivalent with the greatest ease. But in writing it's not working.

I translated one of my stories for the NonEnglish category. It's not doing well at all. The English version was called poetic. The Dutch one is not even scoring a 4.