Circumstances

Professor Pilinovsky spoke on the problems of translations as they relate to fairy tales. Having time to sit back and reflect on the possible explanations to why so many version exist of one fable, I have come to the conclusion that the circumstances of the past will also spawn new life, and be the same explanations for the versions in the future.

As the good professor said, the first problem with translation is that they were oral tales, that eventually were scribed to paper; however, I think this is even more complicated. Scribes and translators must figure out words and historical context, but how do you translate odd sayings. For example, 'he had a sore stomach,' to some cultures is the same as a sore heart, but to others this could be taken as a stomach ache. Furthermore, how are stories written in other cultures? Are they linear, or do they follow the same discourse pattern as the language of the given society. If we have trouble understanding individuals because of discourse patterns, does this mean that scribes reworded material, or left things out, due to the inability to follow?

(Where was my brain, yesterday?)

These are the same questions future generations will ask, in reagrds to the fables of today. To complicate the issue even more, we also love to produce slang, which seems to be developing at a much rapid rate with technological growth. Better yet, the phenomenon of abbreviations, now that should throw a new twist on, The Three Little Pigs.

"Like OMG, there is one fury BMF, 'bout to cap my #@#!"