{"id":2744,"date":"2014-12-30T08:00:24","date_gmt":"2014-12-30T08:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=2744"},"modified":"2014-12-16T14:36:55","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T14:36:55","slug":"lost-translation-language-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/lost-translation-language-poetry\/","title":{"rendered":"Lost in Translation: Language and Poetry"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"4487159833_2207b1dfa3_b\"<\/a>

Sharon Drummond\/Flickr<\/p><\/div>\n

Poetry is primarily about the sound and flow of words, so how do aesthetic differences between languages affect the art form in different\u00a0cultures?<\/em><\/p>\n

The language barrier extends much further than just the spoken word.\u00a0In fact, it can totally distort the meaning of an entire form of artistic creation. Perhaps the most poignant example is poetry, a literary medium deeply ingrained\u00a0in the aesthetics of the language\u00a0in which it is written.<\/p>\n

Given that many\u00a0stylistic quirks in one language might seem\u00a0unnatural or untranslatable in another,\u00a0is it possible to fully appreciate foreign language poetry or does the linguistic barrier prove insurmountable?<\/p>\n

Poetry, a Cultural Ambassador<\/h3>\n

The minutiae of speech can vary widely, including unique approaches to pronunciation, intonation, sentence structure, and syllabic stress. This\u00a0can fundamentally alter the nature of a piece of written work, especially when read out loud, so much so that much of the original intent of the author can be lost.<\/p>\n

An excellent example resides in the prevalence of a\u00a0Japanese style, the haiku, in North American society , which speaks to both the challenges and successes that such\u00a0a\u00a0historically rich tradition experiences in translating across country borders.<\/p>\n

It is exceedingly common for\u00a0school children in the United States to grow up writing haikus in English class\u00a0- the 5\/7\/5 syllable pattern is easy to understand and their non-rhyming nature\u00a0provides ample space for young writers to get creative. The curriculum often even includes\u00a0lessons on Japanese history and culture to provide a social context to the art form, broadening the horizons of English-speaking students and introducing them to a whole new culture.<\/p>\n

However,\u00a0haikus are actually not meant to be so dependent on syllable count. They\u00a0still had a meter of 5\/7\/5, but its\u00a0proper\u00a0measurement is called a \"mora\u201d or an \u201con.\" The Haiku Society of America<\/a>\u00a0estimates that an English-language haiku only has about 12 mora, much fewer than the Japanese 17.<\/p>\n

As such, it is clear that enough of the inherent beauty of the form does lend itself to English, so much so that it remains a popular type of poem in the United States. \u00a0However, there does prove to be an inability for the full haiku experience to translate, evidenced by the variation in mora. The purest and most authentic haiku experience can only really occur\u00a0in Japanese.<\/p>\n

The Musicality of Language<\/h3>\n

Poetry can very much cater to the idiosyncrasies of its language's unique characteristics and ways of being. Consider both the English limerick and\u00a0the French alexandrine \u2013 two styles that depend completely on the workings of the languages in which they are written. In English, each word has a syllable that is stressed. In French, the syllabic stress occurs as the end of the sentence. Each of these stressed syllables might be better imagined as a \"beat,\" and so each language has a different pattern of beats, or rhythm.<\/p>\n

Consequently, if you were to try to translate a limerick , which relies on its own meter of stress, into French, none of the\u00a0original's rhythm could be transferred to the new tongue. \u00a0On the other hand, an alexandrine, when translated into English, would no longer naturally\u00a0stress only the last syllable, thereby\u00a0losing its melodious\u00a0flow.<\/p>\n

English, Russian, and German all follow traditions of stress-timed language. Romance languages are usually syllable-timed. Many languages from Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are categorized as tonal, using pitch to create\u00a0meaning. Within these families, the understanding is usually clearer, but there remains the prominent issue of rhyming in the forms that demand it. A direct translation cannot\u00a0always carry that over, adding yet another hurdle to any endeavor for\u00a0cross-cultural appreciation of art.<\/p>\n

These unique patterns are, in many ways, an unbridgeable divide. While reading a translation\u00a0by no means prevents you from totally understanding and enjoying a\u00a0poem, even the best one would mutate, to some extent, the beauty and subtlety of it.\u00a0So, an entire literary world\u00a0of gorgeous\u00a0poetry\u00a0awaits all readers who are ready and willing to learn a new language. Contact us<\/a> to start mastering the language of your choice and get to work on fully appreciating great writers\u00a0the way they were meant to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poetry is primarily about the sound and flow of words, so how do aesthetic differences between languages affect the art form in different\u00a0cultures?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":2746,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,236,27],"tags":[59,39,282,394,395],"class_list":["post-2744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-language-learning","category-must-know","category-humour-offbeat","tag-english","tag-french","tag-japanese","tag-language-differences","tag-poetry"],"yoast_head":"\nLost in Translation: Language and Poetry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Poetry is primarily about the sound and flow of words, so how do aesthetic differences between languages affect the art form in each culture?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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