----- Original Message -----
From: "Christoph Reuss" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Saturday, July 07, 2001 8:10 PM
Subject: Re: Why so long?
(Speaking several languages,
> I am well aware of what you say about translating meanings.)
I figured you would be but let me say that I can do the seven layer exercise
only in one language. It takes too much intuition unless I cheat and use a
dictionary. The contextual or connotative is a particular problem since
it layers horizontally as well.
A very wierd thing to do would be to imitate Milton who translated English
into Latin, corrected his grammar and then translated it back into English.
In that model we could translate German into English, complete the seven
layer scheme in English and then translate the whole thing back into German
and use the English meanings for the German words. Speaking German from a
deep English perspective.
The only language I can imagine satisfactorily doing that in is my first
language which is Cherokee formatted English. A different language as so
many of my posts illustrate when real English speakers have no idea beyond
the banal of what I speak. My first voice teacher was English and I loved
her care for the language and her love of the Art of it. Next to her I
will always belong to the servant class in the hierarchy of things.
Certain European voice teachers put it this way. "Americans have such
great voices but so little culture."
What they mean is that we don't speak English as they do. Our language is
as colored as our population is diverse. That means that I suspect you
and Keith have very little idea of what the other is saying due to your wide
cultural differences. That is also one of the reasons that I admire you
both although I also suspect that you are saying something other than you
are. That problem of translation is not just on the Internet. We have a
whole new crew of immigrants who speak excellent English from Russia.
However they put the wrong emphasis on the subtle meanings and create a
parallel universe that is quite bizarre when they are trying to convert you
to being a Jew for Jesus, when I'm not even Jewish and know more bible than
they, even though I'm a pagan. I even have the gall to believe that my
view is more close to the original meanings then this recent citizen
Christian convert. Semiotics anyone? If you get my drift.
There is what I believe you are saying, and what I also believe myself to
mean and then there is the reverse, what I believe you are saying and what
you believe yourself to mean. Finally there is that holistic thing that
we both are saying from our whole life, experience and layered
consciousness. The former creates four meanings and the latter creates
seven for each word, at least. Doesn't that make you all at least a
little humble?
REH
