{"id":3930,"date":"2016-09-26T23:15:21","date_gmt":"2016-09-26T23:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=3930"},"modified":"2017-08-23T15:53:36","modified_gmt":"2017-08-23T15:53:36","slug":"esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/","title":{"rendered":"Esperanto Pop Culture is Alive and Kicking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Esperanto is merely a language pipe dream of international communication and understanding, right? An almost-obsolete experiment that few people have heard of and even fewer actually use.<\/p>\n

If that\u2019s the case, then why has it cropped up so often in some of our favourite pop culture?<\/p>\n

Before you disagree, let us cite our sources\u2026<\/p>\n

TV<\/b><\/p>\n

Red Dwarf <\/i>is one of our favourite examples of Esperanto in use. This British Sci-Fi comedy depicted Esperanto as being an international language, with signs on the beloved spaceship being written in both England and Esperanto - Level 147\/Nivelo 147<\/i> as an example. Rimmer spent a good amount of time in the early series attempting to master Esperanto, resulting in phrases as useless yet loved as Monty Python\u2019s My hovercraft is full of eels<\/i> - in this case, Could you please send for the hall porter, there appears to be a frog in my bidet - Bonvolu alsendi la pordiston, la\u016d\u015dajne estas rano en mia bideo.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo via Wikimedia<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Esperanto also appears in the background of The Jetsons<\/i> as part of a homework assignment, there is a brief mention in The Simpsons<\/i> of a former Esperanto club at Springfield Elementary, Frasier\u2019<\/i>s Roz Doyle was apparently fluent in Esperanto (episode Voyage of the damned<\/i>), and West Wing<\/i>\u2019s President Bartlett was \u2018accused\u2019 of wanting students to learn \u2018esoteric\u2019 subjects that included Esperanto.<\/p>\n

Film<\/b><\/p>\n

Probably one of the best of examples of Esperanto being used in pop culture is Charlie Chaplin\u2019s first spoken film, The Great Dictator<\/i>. This 1940s classic was a satirical stab at Hitler, Mussolini and everything associated with fascism, antisemitism and the Nazis. In the film the ghetto walls are adorned with shops, street signs and posters in Esperanto, including the examples Vesta\u0135oj Malnovaj - old clothes<\/i>, and Papervendejo - stationery store<\/i>. Hitler himself was said to be a great opponent of the language of Esperanto, citing it as just one of the tools the Jews were planning on using to enslave the rest of the populace.<\/p>\n

Some other fleeting mentions for Esperanto in film include: Blade: Trinity<\/i>, where Esperanto is the second language of the fictional city the story is set in, Street Fighter<\/i>, where the crime syndicate Shadaloo has posters and and signs written in Esperanto, and Gattaca<\/i>, where all announcements given in the Gattaca building are in Esperanto.<\/p>\n

Learning a new language? Check out our\u00a0<\/b>free placement test<\/a>\u00a0<\/b>to see how your level measures up!<\/b><\/p>\n

Music<\/b><\/p>\n

Yes, Esperanto has even found its way into the music industry.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo via Flickr<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Radiohead\u2019s OK Computer album sleeve includes the Esperanto words injektilo - syringe<\/i>; simbolo -symbol<\/i>, and dan\u011dera najbara\u0135o -dangerous neighborhood<\/i>. Sonic Youth\u2019s Jim O\u2019Rourke released an EP called SYR3: Invito Al \u0108ielo - Invitation to Heaven<\/i>, with all the titles and credits written in Esperanto. Michael Jackson used Esperanto in a promotional video for his album HIStory<\/i>. And American composer Lou Harrison has used Esperanto titles and texts in many of his works.<\/p>\n

Literature<\/b><\/p>\n

George Orwell\u2019s 1984 <\/i>has been praised for its clever dystopian depiction of his perceptions of the direction politics was, or is, going in, but were you aware that Esperanto is a potential source of inspiration for the constructed language used throughout the story? Orwell, disturbed by the exposure he had to the language and viewing the political \u2018element\u2019 of Esperanto as an integral part of the totalitarianism he feared, used it as a basis for the controlling, lack of embellishment and passionless Newspeak.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Gif via Giphy <\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

James Joyce\u2019s Finnegan\u2019s Wake is often included in lists of books most difficult to read<\/i>, and it is also included in our run down of Esperanto in pop culture<\/i>. There are entire passages of the book written purely in Esperanto - some readers even suggest reading the book with an Esperanto dictionary to hand to make things easier to understand.<\/p>\n

Harry Harrison\u2019s The stainless steel rat<\/i> postulates a future where Esperanto is spoken, the clairvoyants in Isabel Allende\u2019s The house of the spirits<\/i> believed spirits only communicated in Esperanto and Spanish, and the population of Airhaven in Philip Reeve\u2019s Mortal Engines<\/i> speak a version of Esperanto called Airsperanto.<\/p>\n

Video games<\/b><\/p>\n

The opening video for Final Fantasy XI<\/i> features a choral piece of music with lyrics sung in Esperanto (Memoro de la \u015ctono - A Memory of the Stone<\/i>). The composer, Nobuo Uematsu, wanted to use Esperanto to symbolise the hope of developers that their game could contribute to global communication.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo via Youtube<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind <\/i>has an in-game book titled N'Gasta! Kvata! Kvakis!<\/i>, which is written in an altered form of Esperanto. The book is meant to be an arcane text on necromancy but is actually part of La Ranetoj<\/i>, a newsletter published by the Stockholm Esperanto Society.<\/p>\n

So, you\u2019ll agree with us we hope, that there is definitely a presence of Esperanto in our pop culture that shows acceptance for this constructed language. Do you believe Esperanto really could be the international language of the future? If so, you\u2019ll want to come back next time, when our final look at Esperanto provides some useful everyday phrases for you to become familiar with and maybe even pique your interest enough to consider taking on another language yourself. Until then!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Esperanto is merely a language pipe dream of international communication and understanding, right? An almost-obsolete experiment that few people have heard of and even fewer actually use. If that\u2019s the case, then why has it cropped up so often in some of our favourite pop culture? Before you disagree, let us cite our sources\u2026 TV(\u2026)<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t \t\t\t\tCONTINUE READING »<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":3931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,236,27,15],"tags":[407,409,563,564,46,470,479],"class_list":["post-3930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-everyday-language","category-must-know","category-humour-offbeat","category-entertainment","tag-constructed-languages","tag-esperanto","tag-esperanto-pop-culture","tag-language-of-the-future","tag-languages","tag-learn-languages","tag-pop-culture"],"yoast_head":"\nEsperanto Pop Culture is Alive and Kicking<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Following our Esperanto series, the last leg of our journey discusses the usage of the language in pop culture. Read on and prepare for the future!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Esperanto Pop Culture is Alive and Kicking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Following our Esperanto series, the last leg of our journey discusses the usage of the language in pop culture. Read on and prepare for the future!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Listen & Learn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-09-26T23:15:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-08-23T15:53:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Gif1.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"113\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kelly\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kelly\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/\",\"name\":\"Esperanto Pop Culture is Alive and Kicking\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Gif1.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-09-26T23:15:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-08-23T15:53:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1f4e451a01bf1f48458a026613ec8f54\"},\"description\":\"Following our Esperanto series, the last leg of our journey discusses the usage of the language in pop culture. Read on and prepare for the future!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Gif1.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Gif1.gif\",\"width\":200,\"height\":113},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Esperanto Pop Culture is Alive and Kicking\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Listen & Learn\",\"description\":\"Language Courses and Language Services UK\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1f4e451a01bf1f48458a026613ec8f54\",\"name\":\"Kelly\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f702f0568496aba44d31e668b970c282?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f702f0568496aba44d31e668b970c282?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kelly\"},\"description\":\"Hi, I'm Kelly and I am a freelance writer and a CELTA-qualified ESL teacher from the UK. As a writer, I get to cover a range of topics by working for a variety of clients in a number of industries. My focus when writing for Listen and Learn is on language and travel, but away from that, I like to write a lot about animals and the environment. Travelling while writing gives me a fresh perspective for all the things I write and allows me to consider everything from opposing points of view thanks to the people I meet along the way. Europe is an amazing place to travel. The countries vary so much, as do the languages, cuisines and ways of life. Though underneath all of that, travelling has really taught me that people are just people, and that we have more similarities than we do differences. We talk a lot at Listen and Learn about languages teaching us so much more than purely vocabulary and grammar, and it is true; there is nothing as exciting as getting to talk to someone you might not normally get to, just because you have made the effort to learn some of their language. Teaching English has given me further insight into the importance of understanding other languages and cultures. I've taught lessons on beaches about the climate crisis and the impact of oil spills on marine animals, and helped students in train stations to practise booking train tickets and make travel plans. I've worked with laboratory technicians in large conglomerates and newly qualified architects starting their own companies; people with completely different lives to mine. And it has been a privilege getting to know them all! Though the most rewarding thing about teaching is seeing students achieve their goals. There is nothing as satisfying as seeing students proud of their hard work and going on to achieve amazing things as a result!\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/kelly-wang\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Esperanto Pop Culture is Alive and Kicking","description":"Following our Esperanto series, the last leg of our journey discusses the usage of the language in pop culture. Read on and prepare for the future!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Esperanto Pop Culture is Alive and Kicking","og_description":"Following our Esperanto series, the last leg of our journey discusses the usage of the language in pop culture. Read on and prepare for the future!","og_url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/","og_site_name":"Listen & Learn","article_published_time":"2016-09-26T23:15:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-08-23T15:53:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":200,"height":113,"url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Gif1.gif","type":"image\/gif"}],"author":"Kelly","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kelly","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/","name":"Esperanto Pop Culture is Alive and Kicking","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Gif1.gif","datePublished":"2016-09-26T23:15:21+00:00","dateModified":"2017-08-23T15:53:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1f4e451a01bf1f48458a026613ec8f54"},"description":"Following our Esperanto series, the last leg of our journey discusses the usage of the language in pop culture. Read on and prepare for the future!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Gif1.gif","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Gif1.gif","width":200,"height":113},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/esperanto-pop-culture-is-alive-and-kicking\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Esperanto Pop Culture is Alive and Kicking"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/","name":"Listen & Learn","description":"Language Courses and Language Services UK","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1f4e451a01bf1f48458a026613ec8f54","name":"Kelly","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f702f0568496aba44d31e668b970c282?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f702f0568496aba44d31e668b970c282?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kelly"},"description":"Hi, I'm Kelly and I am a freelance writer and a CELTA-qualified ESL teacher from the UK. As a writer, I get to cover a range of topics by working for a variety of clients in a number of industries. My focus when writing for Listen and Learn is on language and travel, but away from that, I like to write a lot about animals and the environment. Travelling while writing gives me a fresh perspective for all the things I write and allows me to consider everything from opposing points of view thanks to the people I meet along the way. Europe is an amazing place to travel. The countries vary so much, as do the languages, cuisines and ways of life. Though underneath all of that, travelling has really taught me that people are just people, and that we have more similarities than we do differences. We talk a lot at Listen and Learn about languages teaching us so much more than purely vocabulary and grammar, and it is true; there is nothing as exciting as getting to talk to someone you might not normally get to, just because you have made the effort to learn some of their language. Teaching English has given me further insight into the importance of understanding other languages and cultures. I've taught lessons on beaches about the climate crisis and the impact of oil spills on marine animals, and helped students in train stations to practise booking train tickets and make travel plans. I've worked with laboratory technicians in large conglomerates and newly qualified architects starting their own companies; people with completely different lives to mine. And it has been a privilege getting to know them all! Though the most rewarding thing about teaching is seeing students achieve their goals. There is nothing as satisfying as seeing students proud of their hard work and going on to achieve amazing things as a result!","url":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/author\/kelly-wang\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3930"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/37"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3930"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4413,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3930\/revisions\/4413"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}