the sequel to “reading with/and understanding”
from autograffiti@yahoogroups.com, may13, 2003
—
Is the concern for a reader/interpreter’s having the “right attitude” tantamount to a so-called “primacy of the reader”?
I don’t think so.
Archive for the ‘Translation’ Category
Reading with Understanding
2008
02.19
02.19
a post in autograffiti, may 9, 2003
I once gave a remark:
“Read and read, until you understand.”
Rather harsh?
But it wasn’t meant to be a slight on anyone’s intelligence. Understanding (a text) is not necessarily premised on one’s intelligence. Tama ba ‘yon?
My point is that you need more than intelligence to be able to read and understand. You need a sympathetic ear, a willingness to “hear” what the other has to “say.” More than intelligence, you have to have the right attitude for a better understanding.
Hermeneuts like Schleiermacher (a hermeneut is one who specializes in the philosophy of understanding/interpretation) began with the presumption that there is always the possibility of MIS-understanding. That is why there is a need for hermeneutics (the art of interpretation).
Gadamer, following Heidegger, turned this around and said that we always already understand. All of us come from a fore-knowledge/fore-understanding of things which become the very basis of any future understanding. In other words, we all have biases and prejudices which determine the way we look at and understand anything in the world.
But lest we say, “Ah, we don’t need to make the effort to understand, anyway we always already understand,” Gadamer didn’t stop there, one’s “prejudices” (literally “pre-judgments”) is corrected by hearkening/listening to the otherness of the text.
That’s why the injunction “to read and read until one understands” is meant for all of us, especially when difficulty in understanding comes.
Reading and understanding is always meant to be a dialogue, a dialectic, a to-and-fro motion between the familiarity of our own assumptions and the strangeness of the otherness of the text.
It is definitely not masturbation.
best regards,
ian
Athena: Variations on a Theme
2008
02.14
02.14
(lovingly dedicated to friends, romans, countrymen, lovers, philosophers, philosophasters, grecophiles, ichtyophiles, insomniacs, amnesiacs, maniacs, dionysiacs, alcoholics, addicts, narcoleptics, lunatics, etc… happy valiant times!)
Athena: Variations on a Theme
I
Deep in the night
I stared into the eyes of an owl
Not finding sleep
I sought love
And tripped on wisdom instead.
II
Deep in the night
Staring into the moonlit eyes of an owl
I fought love
Sought wisdom
And caught sleep instead.
III
Deep in the night
Staring at the moonlight
With the eyes of an owl
I sought, without finding
Sleep, wisdom, love.
- ian lomongo, september 2002
Neo-Angono Artists’ Statement on “Urban Wonderland: The Turo-Turo Project”
2008
02.01
02.01
We’ll be in Intramuros tomorrow to participate in the opening activities of the NCCA for the Philippine Arts Festival. Am posting our statement on the project and its Tagalog translation.
best regards,
ian
ARTISTS’ STATEMENT on
“URBAN WONDERLAND: THE TURO-TURO PROJECT”
The Neo-Angono Artists Collective presents new spheres of visual engagement through “Urban Wonderland: The Turo-Turo Project” – a site-specific zone intervention work wherein the group collaborates with the local community and residents of Intramuros. Graduating from the original concept of a “mural,” the work aims to transform several parts of the façade/structure of a chain of stores and eateries situated across the National Commission for Culture and the Arts building on Gen. Luna St. Appropriating the theme of “Public Art” as a modern allegory, the installation work reflects the geographic mosaic of location and identities. The work would touch on some episodes of Philippine history side by side with present social realities. The jarring juxtaposition of disparate elements in the work represents issues of displacement and the blurring of boundaries while hinting at questions regarding the nature of power and the use of art as a mechanism for social change.
As a descriptive reference to the “public,” the collective’s work hopes to serve as a contemporary rhetoric, integrating art into the public realm. This would be experienced on the day of production (February 1, 2008), when the group places life-sized and free-standing images of personages and characters scattered along the front parking lot of the work’s site. As a way of examining contact zones presented as dioramas of site-responsiveness, the public is invited to interact with the free-standing images by inserting their heads through some of the figures, to be photographed and integrated into the “scene” as a vital part of the project.
Paghihintay sa Chuvatienes
2008
01.26
01.26
Paghihintay sa Chuvatienes
ni Michael Ian Lomongo, August 18, 2006
Hindi maikakailang malaki na rin ang naging impluensya ng salitang bading o gay lingo sa pang-araw-araw na pananalita ng madla. Sa pinoy gay lingo, kapansin-pansin ang mala-chopsuey na paghahalo ng iba’t-ibang wika (Tagalog, Japanese, Spanish, English, atbp.) at sari-saring alusyon sa pop culture (gaya ng mga pangalan ng mga artista). Kadalasan, dahil na rin sa dami ng variations at pagpapalamuti ng mga salita, halos ‘di mo na makilala at malaman kung saan hinango ang mga ito.
Halimbawa, san kaya nagmula ang katagang “chuvatienes”? Maaaring ang “chuva“ ay variation ng “chever/cheber,” na maaari namang pinaikling “whatever/whichever” (o posible rin sigurong updated version ng salitang Tagalog na “keber,” na mula naman sa Spanish que ver); ang “tienes” naman (kung saan hinango ang “chenelyn”) ay Spanish ng “you have.” Kaya, kung tutuusin, ang “chuvatienes” ay Spanglish ng “what-have-you.” Sa madaling salita, “anuman,” “whatever.”
Nitong nakaraang Hunyo, napanood ko ang produksyon ng Tanghalang Pilipino ng “Waiting for Godot
The Song of Maria Clara
2008
01.23
01.23
My rough Tagalog translation of Jose Rizal’s “Song of Maria Clara,” inspired by my inability to recall Bienvenido Lumbera’s translation (“Matimyas mabuhay sa sariling bayan, mapagmahal dito ang sikat ng araw.”) in his libretto for Ryan Cayabyab’s Noli musical as well as my inability to get a copy of Rio Alma’s:
Ang Awit ni Maria Clara
Matimyas mabuhay sa tinubuang bayan
Kung saan kaibigan ang lahat sa ilalim ng araw
Buhay ang hanging umiihip sa kanyang bukirin
Kamataya’y di saklot ng hinagpis at higit na malambing ang pag-ibig.
Malalamyos na halik ang naglalaro sa mga labi ng isang ina sa paggising
Ng sanggol sa kanyang dibdib, habang inaapuhap naman ng mga bisig
Ng sanggol ang leeg ng ina upang doon ito mangunyapit;
At sa pagtatama ng mapagmahal na pagtingin, sumisilay sa mga mata ang ngiti.
Matimyas mamatay para sa tinubuang bayan
Kung saan kaibigan ang lahat sa ilalim ng araw
Kamatayan ang ihip ng hangin sa kanyang kawawang
Walang bayan, walang ina, walang pagmamahal.
December 30, 2007
Rizal Day
Angono, Rizal