Subject: Re: waddayamean
From: Benjamin Samuels (madhava@sprynet.com)
Date: Fri Jan 01 1988 - 00:37:09 EST
----- Original Message -----
From: <AntiUtopia@aol.com>
> I think it's as much of a mistake to exaggerate the impossibility of
> translation as it is to have too much faith in language.
> Jim
After all, in a very real way we each speak our own language as well. So
each word is rich in personal nuances in addition to communal shared
meaning. For example, there was a guy on my elementary school bus and then
again later in Jr. High who was named Buddy. Actually we just called him
that- his real name (and let me mention that he seemed the perfect
stereotype of a hick to my young and impressionable mind) was George Hawks
the third. He is now happily married and quite friendly with my dad who
often brings his car to Monroe Muffler where he works. You get the point- I
read all that (and more) when I read Buddy. To me, this can be the most
incredible and beautiful part of art- when it strikes so deep because the
meaning is so personal that no one else ever could understand just what it
is (maybe like that bag blowing in the wind). But is producing this effect
pure luck then? Or is it made of the same stuff as winning at marbles?
There is a whole shared set of references and experience with language. An
ever growing one. Besides having all read Salinger I bet most people on
this list have also read a lot of other books in common, not to mention seen
the same movies and television, driven the same cars and worn the same
sneakers. A big mac is a big mac in this world and the fact that we all
share it gives us quite a lot more in common now than ever before. A lot
for artists to work with.
Love,
Madhava
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