{"id":49,"date":"2016-05-02T03:10:51","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T03:10:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/handulle.ca\/?p=49"},"modified":"2016-05-08T02:54:48","modified_gmt":"2016-05-08T02:54:48","slug":"translation-not-possible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/?p=49","title":{"rendered":"Translation Not Possible"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"730\" height=\"548\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3-wzr74d7TI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>There is an episode of Star Trek\u2019s The Next Generation (yes I am a sci-fi nerd) where we are introduced to an alien species that only communicates through metaphors and allegories. This method of communication is incomprehensible to others who only here the nonsensical strings of individual words even with the technology to translate languages universally.<\/p>\n<p>Whenever I watch an old Somali Riwaayad, the ones where everyone is on stage with the blurry VHS quality (you know the \u2018classics\u2019 I am talking about), I always feel like Captain Picard from that star trek episode. I can understand a lot of the individual words, but I am keenly aware that I\u2019ve missed something completely as my mom laughs during one exchange or when my dad nods in agreement at a soliloquy.<\/p>\n<p>When I was younger, this didn\u2019t really bother me too much. I knew I could carry on a conversation (with some somaglish in between stutters) But as I grew older, that gnawing realization of the missing link was becoming apparent. The language was riddled with context and history.<\/p>\n<p>Not surprisingly, this was occurring as I was starting to become interested in the written word beyond having it forced on me in school. Finding writers and poets I can better relate to. I started to fully appreciate poetry, written stories, and essays in my adulthood. And as my reading increased, so did my vocabulary and ability to understand the writer better. Like listening to music on a standard headset or speaker. Thinking you here what the artist wanted you. Then switching to the better equipment and now able to hear the work completely \u2013 the subtle nuances, feeling of the bass, and appreciating the range of the vocals. My grasp of the English language has offered me new insights, but it has also highlighted the disparity in levels with my mother tongue. My grasp of the Somali language was limited to the level of a child\/adolescent.<\/p>\n<p>Being deprived of my language due to a limited grasp of the context and history meant that I\u2019ll never be able to appreciate my people because I cannot understand its artists.<\/p>\n<p>This is not a difficult leap. Beyond (and within) everyday communication, language transfers technical thoughts and abstract thoughts. \u00a0When speaking of technical thoughts, think of the use of the language in engineering or sciences. In this realm language needs to be precise and can more easily be translated. Abstract thoughts are more difficult to translate. They lie in the arena of poets and story tellers. Since these thoughts can never truly be translated, it can arguably be said it is the essence of the language.<\/p>\n<p>For example, take an important event in Somali history: Independence. The technical language can tell me the date and figures. However; the abstract language will be able to express so much more: the feelings and emotions.<\/p>\n<p>I hope you can appreciate my feeble attempt to show something substantive (at least from my limited knowledge) and an idea that\u2019s not so new. People are its language, language is its artist, and artist speak for the people.<\/p>\n<p>And so, I am unable to understand the Somali artist because I cannot understand their language riddled with context and history. As such, I cannot understand my people.<\/p>\n<p>Like the captain, able to appreciate but never able to truly comprehend.<\/p>\n<p>Now left to and more able (I hope) to express myself in a language I was not born to.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; There is an episode of Star Trek\u2019s The Next Generation (yes I am a sci-fi nerd) where we are introduced to an alien species that only communicates through metaphors and allegories. This method of communication is incomprehensible to others who only here the nonsensical strings of individual words even with the technology to translate [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54,"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions\/54"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/handulle.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}