Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Word Power
That title sounds like we're about to watch School House Rock but, I'm just going to make this journal an extension of our class discussion. The question Ashley wrote up at the beginning of class reminded me of a presentation by Breanne Ackerman at the Inquiry Conference. Breanne did her project on the importance of translators in Dharamasala, and specifically about what/how people choose to translate. She made the point that people translate the most important messages they want to communicate and how they translate the message can make a major impact on what's understood. She gave the example of Tibetan's using the word "torture" in their translations rather than the word "beaten" or "escaped" in place of the word "run-away". Obviously, the use of different words intensified the meaning of what was being said. There is a definite power in words, and I think the video that was shared in class today shows how quickly our meanings can be altered. I don't know if there is a way to avoid being misunderstood in our everyday interactions on the field study. It's not like you can back-translate everything someone translates for you. Hopefully the more we try to get to know someone, the better we'll both be understood. This things going to be one heck of an adventure.
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I agree, the change in words can be really tricky in translating across different languages. Because of the difficulties in translating, I'm glad I'm not going to a foreign-speaking country. Although, there are many differences just between dialects of English, as I'm sure I will soon figure out. I thought the video we watched in class was very good at exposing the problems in translation. Because so many people in the world can also speak English, I think native English-speakers sometimes forget the huge differences in language and how it affects the way you think. It'll be interesting to see what you find as far as the successes/failures of translating in your field study. good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree, that the key to understanding someone (whether you're communicating across language or just across different English dialects or different upbringings) is to get to know them better. In practical terms, this means spending a lot of time with people, getting to know the common words and expressions they use and how their literal meaning differs from what you might expect.
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