LL-L "Etymology" 2008.02.25 (03) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  - 25 February 2008 - Volume 03
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From: Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong <Dutchmatters at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.02.24 (05) [E]

Dear Gael and Ron,

You have been involved in such an interesting exchange of thoughts. You two
have put words to a phenomenon that those of us who are in the business of
translating one language into another face all the time.  We literally have
to weigh our words because even though they may be cognates or even may be
identical in the two languages, they have different values, colors,
resonances or depths. For me the act of translation is somewhat akin to
giving a one-man (woman) show, where the actor changes hats to show a
dialogue between two people.

But then that also begs the question; do two people ever think alike and
therefore is it a wonder that their children do?

Thanks again. Jacqueline
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From: foga0301 at stcloudstate.edu
Subject: LL-L "Etymology"

Ron and Listers following this thread,

   Thanks for your elucidations too, most learned Hahn—dweller/traveler *
in/through/into/to/between/among* deep spaces. Especially thanks for the
distinction between *nomadic* and *settled* traditions. The one thing I have
wanted to add to all this is the wish that I/we could have this whole
conversation in Russian since that language's global positioning seems to be
in between East and West somehow, at least with regard to religious
history.  I know that *Russian verbs* provide ways to focus on the subtle
distinctions between various comings and goings through boundaries or
whatever else affects one's motives and intentions.  This precision helps
when it comes to distinguishing between various types of boundaries and
enclosures. The book *Corporeal Words: Mikhail Bakhtin's Theology of
Discourse<http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=73K0xXILQRkC&oi=fnd&pg=PP13&dq=Theology+Bakhtin+%22Corporeal+Words%22&ots=6Y63af3MzR&sig=bZnWid4GNMytytFQCmMXoahXw8A>
*, 1997 by Alexandar Mihailovic engages in a lot of word studies that unpack
such things nicely. In order to understand this book, I had to learn to read
those Russian words since he stuck all over the place in text… so it took a
while.  Too bad the more "settled" Western scholars in this field mostly
ignored his book. It comes out of the new and fragile freedom that Russians
(and Central Asians etc) now have to be creative from depth. Unfortunately,
I think the rest of the world is going in the opposite direction, closing
down new ways of thinking. Obviously, in this region too, this is a
persistent problem.  Madina Tlostanova's essay "The Imagined Freedom" in *South
Atlantic Quarterly* 105(3): 637-659 (2006);
[PDF]<http://saq.dukejournals.org/cgi/reprint/105/3/637>gives a good
account of the current political and social limits to
self-discovery in that part of the world.

   As you all on the List know well, every part of the world *and every
language/dialect* is needed in order to understand human evolution and the
continued potential we have to foster healthy ways to relating to each
other.  This gets after what Mike Wintzer was addressing in the language
politics thread recently when he asked "Can anyone point to a
counter-example other than - yes again - Switzerland? Even such very liberal
states as Singapore, Malaysia (and others?) cannot completely escape this
phenomenon"… "that politicians are INCAPABLE of distinguishing between
political and cultural independence." As educators, intellectuals, and
motivated global citizens, we are the ones who need to shape/bend this
public sphere into a more inhabitable space. *Words* are crucial, and our
understanding of their power to form us is a vital part of this. Yet,
discovering how to use this power responsibly is also a joy. Again, Rudyard
Kipling's short story about King Solomon and the butterfly in his *
bag/garden/park* is a priceless commentary on this problem [
http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/butter.htm.] if you have time to partake.

Thanks for your efforts—ya' all [all of you],
Gael Fonken
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