Reading between lines [paper submitted]

Prior to working in a business publication house, I completed an undergraduate degree in Translation and Chinese, majoring in interpretation. Translation, as stated by Mr. Yan Fu (嚴復) in his preface to his translation of Evolution and Ethics (天演論), implies three difficulties - faithfulness, expressiveness, and elegance (譯事三難:信達雅). Whereas for interpretation, timeliness naturally comes as the forth difficulty on top of the three afore mentioned.

The search for right words had been a constant struggle to translators / interpreters, especially when comes to text / speech that on the surface tells one story, connotation within tells another; or in cases where chances are - meanings and possibilities of text / speech vary significantly due to the different interpretation and life experience of an audience.

Various strategies are thus adopted by translators and interpreters. Approximately back 200 years, during the late Qing Dynasty, Chinese translators had worked hard in translating western literature; it is however, the stories were often modified in the translations where beliefs of Chinese at the time were mingled in the western classics, to serve a designated educational purpose.

Whereas good translation and interpretation enables communication, a slightly worse one may induce an adverse effect. Should we or should we not use certain language become an art to learn in a lifetime.

Yet whether or not one participates in the translation / interpretation business, to me every human being is born a translator and interpreter – for we have always been translating our thoughts into language and interpreting language in thoughts and actions; it only matters if one learned and become a master of language or awkwardly remained a lousy practitioner throughout life.

1. An example of a great master

Jean-Luc Godard is one of the true masters. Though movie-goers may find it uneasy to follow his montage, the tension and cohesion created in his script (portrayed by conversation between actors and actresses) often explicitly convey the implicit concepts and ideas of the director.

Breathless (À bout de souffle), made in 1960, illustrates the last days of a young French called Michel Poiccard.

   Michel Poiccard, an irresponsible sociopath and
   small-time thief, steals a car and impulsively
   murders the motorcycle policeman who pursues him.
   Now wanted by the authorities, he renews his
   relationship with Patricia Franchini, a hip
   American girl studying journalism at the Sorbonne,
   whom he had met in Nice a few weeks earlier.
   Before leaving Paris, he plans to collect a debt
   from an underworld acquaintance and expects her to
   accompany him on his planned getaway to Italy.
   Even with his face in the local papers and media,
   Poiccard seems oblivious to the dragnet that is
   slowly closing around him as he recklessly pursues
   his love of American movies and libidinous
   interest in the beautiful American. But as the
   police net tightens, Michel’s bravado and
   desperation grow and Patricia commits the ultimate
   act of betrayal.
(Source: http://imdb.com/title/tt0053472/plotsummary)

Based on a high-level abstraction theme "What do you hope to attain out of life?" (addressed through Patricia in one of her lines), the director had tried to illustrate his beliefs and thoughts on the subject matter with intentional settings – both explicit and implicit ones. Through symbols and the connotations implied in the characters and various props, different approaches were adopted in examining the possible values of the thesis.

A particular symbolization lies on the relationship between Michel (French, a rebellious socialist) and Patricia (an American journalist, opportunist, representing also the capitalist) - which had attempted to demonstrate the conflicts of two major opponent ideologies when applied in reality. Where the ending is in no favor of either side, the argument on notion of the film remains open to possibilities.

In another film - In Praise of love (Éloge de l’amour), produced in 2001, Godard again examined a high-level abstraction theme.

   In part one there is talk of a project on the
   subject of love, with the example of three
   couples, one young, one mature and the other
   elderly. At this point the author comes into
   contact with a young woman he had already met
   three years earlier. Just as the project is about
   to become reality, all problems of an artistic or
   financial nature having been resolved, the author
   learns that the young woman has died. Part two
   concerns the events of three years earlier. While
   interviewing an historian, the future author meets
   for the first time the young woman, who is
   training as a lawyer. She has been asked by her
   own grandparents, formerly of the French
   resistance, to examine a contract offered to them
   by Americans who want to make a film about their
   activities during the Nazi occupation of France.
(Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181912/plotsummary)

By transecting love into four stages – meeting, sexual passion, separation and rediscovery; a multiple orientation is adopted in which progression on how love evolves from one stage to another is depicted. The mock dialogues in the movie between young lovers, the young and the old had climbed up and down the ladder of abstractions, providing enlightenments to the audience on the subject love.

The classification of stages of love here might not be thorough or comprehensive, yet the context generated under the classification was made clear and easily understandable - for movie-goers can relate their own experience obtained during adolescence and adulthood.

Furthermore, in the comparison of the audience’s self-experience and the various standpoints exemplified in the movie, the director succeeded in involving his audience in the reflection on the thesis concerned – which as a result, provoked and inspired series of procession of contrasting ideas and information, enabling a better understanding of the notion.

2. Impact on language in thought and action in the technological era

In the past, the beauty of Godard’s movies had been frozen and preserved in films; due to constraints of technologies then, people were allowed time to indulge themselves in deep thoughts to analyze what was delivered. Stepping into the 21st century however, advancement in technologies has transformed the landscape we once seen. The saturation of information through different channels, the internet above all, had enabled language an even greater power in shaping and reshaping the reality.

First, language had never evolved any faster than time after the emergence of the internet.

It might have taken years before a new word is included in the dictionary, where behind the scene linguists, academics and writers all needed the time to gather information and enough samples to come up with conclusions of usage of a word. These days under the booming web 2.0 technologies, user generated content can effortlessly redefine any word in use from one meaning to another in a split second.

In linguistic lessons professor said language has a life, it grows persistently and perpetually. Slang would be an obvious verification to the conception. Developed in 1999, the online Urban Dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/) is an example to how the internet allows a collective effort of average people to redefine the modern language that we use everyday. With the autonomy given by the web technologies, a wide abundance of expressions and new terms surface at a tremendous speed.

To further intensify the changes, instant messages, social networking sites and a number of multimedia platforms have also contributed in the creation of new language use and patterns. It is especially noticeable among the younger generation, where words are often spelt in contractions, say “enuf” instead of enough, “ttul” stands for talk to you later. All these could have been explained with the limits of words in the short message service (sms) through cell phones, forums and other interactive platforms which are popular between young people.

The affective connotations people once implied in words are also replaced by or complemented with emoticons such as “lol” (laugh out loud), “ ;p” (sticking out your tongue, teasing in a way),“ XD” (laughing with eyes closed) or “ :)” (a simple smiley face).

Rises of the language mentioned above have dramatically simplified the heavy load of information which we are exposed to every day, yet one could not help but ask, are we in fact experiencing a loss of in-depth meanings that language once possessed? Or, is information less difficult to comprehend now then ever? Least interpersonal communication is made more open and less complicated?

In my opinion though, people only tend to become more confused.

Collective knowledge contribution has nonetheless encouraged information sharing, wikipedia (www.en.wikipedia.com), the online encyclopedia written collaboratively by volunteers around the world is a remarkable demonstration. Yet the effort we pay together in defining our modern society, is in some ways dooming the independent exploration towards true and core values by oneself.

One, the oversimplification of words and symbolization of words are diluting the matter of degree that one truly means. Say, it is highly unlikely that the complex human emotions can be explained or shown with a mere combination of letters or symbols. Nor is it possible to clearly identify a situation with brief notes; in cases involving cross-cultural communication it could only get even more complicated.

Second, often when a new concept and idea emerge, most people would find it hard or difficult to grasp the meaning within – that is when perception kicks in to shape our view on the new matter. One might have the freedom to express his / her belief and share it with the public, how the majority will react upon is forever another story. At present, all the user generated content sites’ are rated under a voting system – meaning the credibility of a site depends solely upon the agreeableness of the mass.

It could be a good way to reinforce the old knowledge where people can always seek reference from the wealth we owned already; to the new and never in our life brought up though, the fear is, people’s perception might hinder the discovery of new things.

[submitted 2008]