A quick introduction about me! My name is Andrew How (yes, How), and I’m a 3rd-year exchange student from sunny Singapore! I’m doing a degree in social sciences at the Singapore Management University and will be studying at UBC for the winter term. Having decided that coming here was an opportunity for exploration, I opted to take up this course to engage in some intellectual exploration and am excited to learn something new and different that I probably wouldn’t be able to back home. Hoping to make some new friends and gain some valuable knowledge and understanding from this course!
A Reflection on the Lecture
Romance studies appears to me to be a broad, atypical and unique discipline, as much trying to find differences as well as similarities between texts that are likely to be different yet share a common linguistic origin. Language itself is an interesting concept. Language is such a central and integral part of our society and culture; simply a collection of symbols that can carry so much meaning beyond its surface, meanings which can be so different yet so similar between languages. Translation, therefore, is perhaps the most intriguing part of the course for me. By taking these texts into translation, how much does it give us insight into the meaning and the message behind the words? How much can we learn of the time and place within and without the text, and how much is lost in translation? Is it ever possible to fully grasp the meaning of a text when it is translated, and how important is it to stay faithful to the original meaning? Is recontextualisation doomed to never be fully authentic, or is it the creation of something new and valuable in itself?
Aside from these questions, I also wish to ask: Why study romance studies? Exploration and intellectual challenge are always wonderful, but I wonder how else it applies to our understanding of the world. How does understanding and recontextualising the works of the “romance world” colour our worldview? That is what I hope to uncover as I progress through the course.
Hi Andrew, thanks for posting! I agree with you that one main goal of the course, as well as romance studies in general, is to find commonalities in these various texts originally written in different languages. Also, I think another especially good point you mentioned is the almost certain loss of originality and authenticity resulting from different versions of translation from romance languages to English. Since all texts convey social, cultural, political, or other forms of significance in addition to their linguistic background, understanding the local context associated with each text becomes vital, in my opinion. Also, studying about the romance world aims to further the specificity in a vastly broad geographic area that to some degree covers the entire world.
Hi Andrew,
I really enjoyed reading your introductory post and especially liked your take on language! The questions you’ve come up with are questions I have asked myself. I love languages, like you’ve said, it is a collection of symbols that hold meaning. I particularly like the idea that language can be interpreted in any way imaginable. Though we do have definitions and hold onto dictionaries to create meaning. It’s interesting to think about all the ways we can use tone and context to change the meaning of text and speech. This can be used for good or bad. Unfortunately, those with ill intentions will choose the latter. Thank you for sharing with us!