A Poem and Article about Language

Another poem that my friend posted the other day and this time the subject is language-words, thoughts, sounds, information. There was an article in the New York Times about languages and how New York City has probably the most diverse and greatest amount of languages in one area: "It's the capital of language density in the world." Many of these oral languages are spoken by immigrants and are endangered. Immigrants who came to New York are now the only ones to carry their culture, since their native countries have also evolved to forget dialects spoken fifty or more years ago. A linguistic article I came upon while searching for a photo to go with this post.


Losing a Language- W.S.  Merwin

A breath leaves the sentences and does not come back
yet the old still remember something that they could say

but they know now that such things are no longer believed
and the young have fewer words

many of the things the words were about
no longer exist

the noun for standing in mist by a haunted tree
the verb for I

the children will not repeat
the phrases their parents speak

somebody has persuaded them
that it is better to say everything differently

so that they can be admired somewhere
farther and farther away

where nothing that is here is known
we have little to say to each other

we are wrong and dark
in the eyes of the new owners

the radio is incomprehensible
the day is glass

when there is a voice at the door it is foreign
everywhere instead of a name that is a lie

nobody has seen it happening
nobody remembers

this is what the words were made
to prophesy

here are the extinct feathers
here is the rain we saw

Italian or French? Why not Spanish?

I have this inner debate with myself, oh perhaps, every other week. Whether to focus my studies on French or Italian and sometimes even Spanish (though I think I can safely say that I have let Spanish go for the moment). Why not both you may ask? Both would be nice, if two language classes a semester didn't take up so much time and credits. I want to study subjects other than languages such as history, english, art, film, religion, anthropology, and politics.

Poetry

Every day, I have a friend on facebook who posts a poem. She's an English major and I always look forward to her selection for the day. At the end of each poem she usually asks a couple of analytical questions and some comments. It's fascinating to see how a poem can be interpreted. I think it's a bit like film or music. We are so used to enjoying what we see, read or listen that we don't take the time to really ponder and reflect on what messages these mediums are transmitting to us. I can't wait to take Intro to Film next year so I can finally have the tools to analyze critically creative forms that we usually see as entertainment. Here is a poem that she posted the other day that I really like:

The Flute Player

His flute played a melody
Poetry floating in the air
Words written to the wind
Soothing minds
Stilling dreams

His music caught the sunset
Glittering in the moonlight
Notes painted in the sky
And the wonders of his music
Reaching the heart of the soul

Softly trilled his tones
Gossamer sounds of darkness
Ballads of the nightwind
An assurance
For all

Mickey Avalon and Hello Failure

Tonight is Spring Concert here at Mount Holyoke. As I write this Mickey Avalon is blasting his vocal chords across campus(I'm one of the direct recipients of his bass) and girls (I'm sure a couple of guys too) are screaming their lungs out. Thankfully his concert ends at 10:30 pm and then I just have to endure a black-light party until 2 am. Things are hoppin' at MHC.
On another note, I went to go see  Hello Failure a new play by Kristen Kosmas. It was directed by Brooke O'Harra and I've got to say that I have so far loved her selections for performances. They're deep and thought provoking; funny and sad. Hello Failure is about a group of female friends in a support group for wives of sub-mariners.  I don't know if it's specifically O'Harra's direction that provides an intricately woven performance of individuals connected through their silence and common experience but the use of language, sound and music made for an engaging performance. It's interesting to read the New York Times review of the play just because it views the script at trying too hard to be original?

Limits of the Law-Is Liberty the Price of Security?

The last series of the Limits of the Law and tonight Jane Mayer came to talk about her book "The Dark Side". I am disappointed to say that she was a terrible public speaker and read her whole 35 minute speech with hardly looking up at the audience. The Q&A she was much more relaxed. I had to stare at my knee and listen to her voice talk eloquently about U.S policies on torture and the crimes that a group of people have committed. Unfortunately, they are not being convicted or put on trial and neither are the victims (some innocent other not) of our prosecution. Perhaps the most striking comment of the whole evening was the fact that we, the U.S has allowed human rights violations to continue, when they are an affront to our core identity as a nation of just laws and liberty.

Christianizing Public Schools: Bible Courses, Social Studies Standards, and Why the Texas Controversy Matters

This lecture was by Mark A. Chancey, the Associate  Professor of Religious Studies at SMU (Southern Methodist University). That's the great thing about going to college is the constant host of lectures and amazing programs they offer. This one was hosted by the Religion Department and discussed the growing movement of christianizing public schools. It was particularly relevant considering that the Texas Board of Education is on the verge of passing a bill that changes the social studies standards as well as incorporates conservative-protestant views in text books. This is an issue since Texas is the second largest buyer/publisher(not sure?) of textbooks, thus other states will be impacted since textbook companies take into consideration Texas as there major audience.

Une femme est une femme

Directed by Jean-Luc Godard in 1961, Wikipedia says that it's a tribute to American musical comedy and with good reason. The soundtrack is a lot of fun, but as usual Godard doesn't use sound in the traditional way--he cuts it off, intertwines it with silence, dialogue, images, and shots. It was a fun movie to watch and engaging. It made me want to see more French Wave films, which I have seen very little of. The film stars Anna Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo et Jean-Claude Brialy.

Kaija Saariaho

Kaija Saariaho is a renowned Finnish composer and is the artist-in-residence at Mount Holyoke this weekend. I had never heard of Saariaho before these last couple of weeks and I finally got to hear some of her music performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). It was a striking sound. There were seven pieces total. The reaction/emotion I felt listening to Saariaho's music was probably at times very similar to what audiences first thought of "The Right of Spring" by Stravinsky. Her music really opened my eyes to the possibilities and complexities of sound that we so often don't pay attention to in our daily lives. 6 Japanese Gardens (1994) for percussion and live electronics; that piece was very moving and at times evoked strong response. It opened my mind and broadened my way of thinking about composition or how to use a traditional instrument in a different way.