Lost in Translation

I have previously blogged about names and their significance, but the play "Translations" only feeds into this topic even more!

Ireland has its own personal identity, which is based on history, background, heritage, culture, and many other affiliations such as these. A name also insinuates these same aspects of a history.

The British came in and tried to overtake every part of Ireland. They changed their education to English and changed Irish names of places to ones of English meaning.

Through translation, meanings are lost and some words must be altered. This book shows how sentences are not always translated word for word, and a lot of meaning is lost.

This got me thinking...relating back to the significance of names, what if somebody tried to translate your name and completely change the meaning and the history? Relating to Power, the question was posed about the significance of a name and if that has a direct reference to one's personality. If everything--names, streets, objects, etc.--was changed to a different language, would we completely lose all of the history and significance behind everything we know? Is a language that powerful or does this play just make it too big of a deal?

Do You Ever Really KNOW?

BELIEF VS. KNOWLEDGE
What defines a belief versus a fact and how can we differentiate between the two?

Our class's conclusions basically consisted of facts being things we can perceive and find definite, and beliefs filling in the gaps facts leave open. This is where things such as religion come into play. When things happen that can not be explained by fact, we use beliefs to make sense of it all.

The topic discussed in class that really caught my attention was about color. Is my definition of red the same as yours? How about orange or blue? Color is something we typically refer to as a fact. We "know" if something is yellow or green. But if it is a possibility that our concepts of color are even different, how can we differentiate between a belief versus knowledge?

Although this video is quite boring [monotone voice and elevator music in the background] mainly focuses on the topic of religion, it expresses a difference between a belief and a truth. It classifies knowledge as the medium between the two, which I found interesting. So does scientific proof make something a fact?

Defined by Your Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell so sweet?"

Shakespeare said it. Both Jamaica Kincaid and Linda Hogan continued to question it. So what does a name really mean? If we name someone upon their birth, without yet knowing them, is the name reflective of their personality?

LUCINDA: Short for Lucifer [Satan himself].
Before the reference to the definition of her name, Lucy says, "I felt like Lucifer, doomed to build wrong upon wrong." Do you always live up to your name? Or is it just a coincidence that her name directly relates to how she feels and acts?

OMISHTO: Means "She who watches".
The first few pages of the novel describe in great detail her surrounding and all of the sounds she hears and things she sees. She obviously lives up to her name of "she who watches."

Is your fate decided the moment you are named or do we really have free will?

If you were named something else when you were born, would you have the same personality or would your defining characteristics be completely different?