From the archive: Linguistics Final
I have decided to take a look back at my favorite papers from my time in graduate school. Many of these detail intracacies from my fieldwork that did not fit into my final thesis, others explore other things. They are not perfect. But they are the foundation from which I continue to grow and learn. I have decided to be proud of them. One per week in the month of May. Enjoy.
Intro |
I chose to write about these songs in the context of linguistics because they (with the exception of a few lines by me) were written by Icelandic women. Thus, they were written in their second language. First I will share a background to how these were written. Then I will break down the lyrics through a combination of field experience, morphemic analysis and abduction based on knowledge of the reading material that inspired them. Finally, I will discuss the importance of this workshop and the language used by the Icelanders as well as the different ways that dance in Iceland uses various “languages.”
The Reykjavík Dance Festival (RDF) put out a call, “Do you want to be in a feminist choir?” inviting those who identify as women to come to a 2-week workshop with a French Musician named Gérald to write a feminist choir song. The workshop would: introduce us to feminist texts, open us up for discussion, give us basic vocal training, and guidance in how to write music. The result would be a performance of this choir as part of the musician’s Feminist Science Fiction musical in the November RDF, in which I will be a performer this week.
On the first day of the workshop we were given three manifestos (A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna Haraway, S.C.U.M Manifesto by Valerie Solanas, and the EcoSex Manifesto) and we read each out loud and discussed them. Reading out loud presented a few challenges for the Icelanders and though Gérald had studied these texts and knew what they meant, he often turned to me to help explain unclear words or metaphors unfamiliar to the Icelanders. After reading them all, we had free writing time. Some of us wrote questions, experiences, and built off of the themes of the manifestos. Others wrote lists of words that stood out. These words are the ones in the lyrics that may strike you as odd: flux (from Cyborg), my fern (from Ecosex), chromosomic (from Cyborg), cyborg (from Cyborg), phallic blob (from SCUM). Many of these words were chosen because of their poetic nature or the feeling the writer/reader got when she heard or saw them. After discussing our free writes, we sorted all writing into two groups: curses and vows. We broke into the two groups to write the songs. Thus song 1 is a vow and song 2 is a curse.
Gérald had originally wanted everyone to write in our native languages. However, the Icelanders said that it was a lot of extra work to translate the manifestos in their minds, understand them in English, and then write on those translated themes in Icelandic. So we wrote in English. There was one Icelander in the “vow” group wrote vows/declarations in Icelandic because of a specific word play. I will discuss this section later on, but in the end we built off that ‘vow’ idea in English for the chorus and then decided to end in chaotic Icelandic vows/declarations. What was interesting to me, as the translator for defining terms, and the only native English speaker—was that the feeling was more important than the logic of the sentence or literal meaning of the words. There were also moments in discussion where cultural references were very different. In the Cyborg Manifesto Haraway writes, “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” which is a line from the Declaration of Independence. As a US citizen reading that line in the manifesto, followed by her statements, I immediately knew she was mocking the system. In the discussion I brought up the genius of her use of these iconic lines and was met with polite head nods. This combination of morphemes did not do for Gérald or the nine Icelanders what it did for me. Here are the two songs, broken down line by line, using abduction based on my field experience and my knowledge of the manifestos read, as examples of these different relationships to English:
Song 1 line by line | Vows
My brand of feminism is crisis.
Brand: particular type or kind of something:
Feminism: the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.
Crisis: a time when a difficult decision must be made.
This was written as the start of a poem by one dancer. The meaning of this line is that for her, Feminism entered her life by survival instinct and necessity. It was the result of a crisis: A time of intense difficulty, a time when an intense decision must be made. This is also in reference to Iceland’s status as Number 2 in equality in the world—this Icelander did not believe she needed feminism until her crisis point.
I hate you for rebranding my soul.
Hate: passionate dislike
Rebranding: to change the corporate image of
Soul: spiritual or immaterial part of a human
Re-branding of her soul = changing her into a feminist, changing the core of her being, again out of necessity and survival. This was also directly from her poem, inspired by the manifestos—but all her own words.
I thought feminism was a slogan on a shirt.
Slogan: motto associated with a political party or group
Having to do with the “popular” culture of feminism. In Iceland in specific #druslugangan is the popular hashtag used on shirts and stickers in the city-wide Slut Walk (Drusla = slut) that takes place every July.
Not a nail bomb on a suicide bird.
Metaphor: Nail-bomb: an explosive device containing nails, typically used by terrorists to cause injuries in a crowded are
Metaphor: suicide bird: Described to me by the author as simply referring to either when birds dive and crash, or imagery of a suicidal person.
In combination: bring driven to extreme because of inequality
My hips are diggin’to the ground
Written by me, a physical feeling I had while lying onto the ground and writing. I wondered if I could force the world around me to expand by pressing my hips into the ground. It was written as a fact and reaction to my physicality. I was inspired by the imagery from the EcoSex Manifesto which referred to body parts taking up space in the earth.
My expanding genitals spread out.
Expanding and spread out are synonyms for widening and taking up more space.
This was in reference to feminism in general and the S.C.U.M. Manifesto and was regarding, most especially, a taking up of space for the female body. It is a declaration of taking up space.
I vow to let go of you if you let go of me
Vow: a solemn promise
Let go: a declaration. “Let go of me” could refer to violence against women, based on our conversations, but more so we wrote this because it fit with the timing of the electronic song Gerald had written, and was a vow of independence.
I vow to morph, I vow to be, I vow to be free
Morph: to change from one (being) to another
Free: not under control or power of another
Meaning: There is no constant, vowing to change free of constraint
“to be” was just another musical addition made since a simple “I vow to be free” did not take up the musical time needed. This comes from the Cyborg Manifesto
I vow to stand for my rights and to own my body
Stand (for): remain in a specified position…stand for is to support a cause.
Own: possessive
Body: physical structure of a person
Another strong declaration. “Stand for my rights” came after one dancer stated
“when I am thinking of my options I ask myself, if I was a male would this feel off limits to me?” As she shared this idea, many others chimed in feeling the same but hating feeling that way. And they all agreed to “fight for their rights” in the world.
The “own my body” was written after a discussion on how each human’s body is its own territory and anyone “visiting” must follow the appropriate rules. This comes from the S.C.U.M. Manifesto which states that men believe they own everything, including female bodies. I become the shapeshifter and bring death to duality….(chaotic untimed round ending with one bold “DUALITY!!!”)
Become: turn into
Shapeshifter: (chiefly in science fiction) a person or being with the ability to change their physical form at will. A reference to the Cyborg Manifesto, representing fluidity.
Bring: to come to a place with (object)
Death: permanent end to something
Duality: contrast between to concepts. In this case referring to gender (m/f) This was also an idea stemming from the Cyborg Manifesto.
Meaning: Vowing to morph into a being that is fluid and will end gender once and for all. All a reference to the Cyborg Manifesto. After reading this word in the manifesto our group was determined to make sure the word made it into the song.
ég heiti meaning “I vow” and “my name is.”
This was a world-play that only an Icelander would truly catch when listening to the song.
Phonetically and morphemically these two phrases are identical. But to the Icelander, there is a slight and distinct difference in the way “ég” is pronounced in “I vow” and the way “heiti” is pronounced in “my name is.” More so, the author of this section said that declaring one’s name is in itself a vow, adding to the layer of meaning and poetry to this section. For this section each person made a list of “ég heiti” to shout out.
Here is my list for example (although theirs are all in Icelandic)
ég heiti Emily (my name is Emily)
ég heiti to build my strength (I vow to build my strength)
ég heiti little stream (My name is little stream)
ég heiti female (My name is female)
ég heiti be myself (I vow to be myself)
After a specific beat in the techno music, one single ég heiti mirroring the English vows in the chorus is shouted in unison marking the end of the song. This vow is the Icelandic translation of “I vow to stand for my rights and to own my body.” This section was so powerful in Icelandic that we decided to make the chorus of the song mirror the concept of vows in the chorus and to keep this as a separate section of the song at the end. This dual-language aspect to the song further enhances the meaning of the song in terms of bringing death to dualities.
Song 2 |
Deflower your systematic masturbation
Deflower: old meaning was to deprive (a woman) of her virginity. In many senses this is degrading to woman giving the idea that a women’s sexuality is passive, taken from her.
Systematic: done according to a plan, systematic can also refer to deep social/cultural “ways of doing things.”
Masturbation: the act of stimulating one’s own genitals; there is an acceptance of males and this act, whereas a female doing so is taboo.
Meaning in context of manifestos and workshop, as well as history: Basically the meaning of this line is a demand for the male-dominant sexuality to end.
Get cyborg and liberate my fern
Get cyborg: a line from the Cyborg Manifesto based her Donna Haraway’s “cyborg theory” of humanity. Claiming to end dualism of gender. “Get cyborg” is her call to action, to fluidity.
A cyborg is a science fiction person “whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.” It is a blend of “cyber” relating to technology. And organism.
Liberate: to free
Fern: a plant, that opens… in this case it refers to a vagina. This is a reference to the EcoSex Manifesto.
Liberate my fern: free “female” sexuality
Full meaning: basically, get weird and let’s enjoy this.
Organize my organic lumps
Organize: word was chosen because it sounds nice in the song with the alliteration, a sort of invite. Organizing refers to careful placement and care of objects (body)
Organic lumps: a metaphor to the body. This is a reference to the EcoSex Manifesto
Meaning: more of a feeling, related to dancing, related to physical relationships.
Salvation! My orgy. Nature fuck.
Salvation: being saved from harm or ruin
Orgy: an event
My orgy: referring to salvation, as a pleasurable thing
Nature fuck= a line from the EcoSex Manifesto regarding: exactly what it sounds like.
Meaning: in reverse order… the freedom of nature fucking or fucking in nature, etc (EcoSex Manifesto) is a pleasurable salvation from gender binaries and sexual bounds many women experience.
Go copulate yourself!
A direct curse, a substitute for “go fuck yourself” which is what you say when you are mad at someone. This is a line from the S.C.U.M. Manifesto.
You faithful phallic blob
Faithful: loyal constant
Phallic: referring to male sex organ
Blob: an indeterminate mass or shape/also an insult for worthless
“Phallic Blob” comes from the S.C.U.M. Manifesto.
Combined meaning: you pesky penis/man
Go flux your fluid mother
Flux and Fluid came out of the Cyborg Manifesto.
Flux: change. In this instance, the participants defined this more as an insult “go flux yourself” as synonymous with “go fuck yourself”
Fluid: to be able to flow easily
Your mother: A maternal insult is a reference to a person's mother through the use of phrases such as "your mother" or other regional variants, frequently used to insult the target by way of their mother
Combined to mean: go fuck your fluid mother….an insult and also a reference to “mom” as female and probably “secretly” not happy in gender roles, not straight.
Hit me soft
A command: desiring sexual pleasure, but consensual, and kind. This was inspired by the EcoSexual Manifesto.
Screw the irony of mutilation
Screw: in this case, a curse. Like “to hell with…”
Irony: a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result
Mutilation: referring to two things: one Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), a feminist issue stemming from practices in groups in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. // also referring to mutilation or warping of society due to patriarchy.
Meaning: basically a fancy way of cursing the patriarchy and all it represents for women across the world
You who craves liberation
You who: a reference to someone that (verb)
Craves: feeling powerful desire towards something
Liberation: freedom from limits
Referring to the humans that are bound and do not want to be bound by structures. This was from the EcoSex Manifesto.
Lover of chromosomic passion.
Lover: in this case, referring to a person who enjoys something
Chromosomic: a word that was made up. Chromosome: is a part of DNA. Therefore, could refer to the meshing of cells during physical relations. However, when we were writing the song, this word was pulled from the Cyborg Manifesto and was enjoyed by the Icelanders for its poetic resonance. To them, chromosomic meant “bright,” “glittery,” or “powerful.”
Passion: intense sexual love
Meaning: someone who enjoys this type of passion
Physical plumbing sensation
Physical: of or relating to things perceived through the senses as opposed to the mind; tangible or concrete.
Plumb: explore or experience to extremes
Plumbing: more so in this case a motion. An up and down, like using a plunger while fixing a plumbing issue.
Sensation: a physical feeling or perception resulting from something that happens to or comes into contact with the body
This was written in the notes of an Icelander when she was free-writing. She was thinking about movements she could take herself within these ideas of liberation. She never stated exactly what this meant, though other Icelanders giggled and we all speculated that it probably meant sex, specifically done to pleasure a female.
Song 1 full meaning: a vow. A declaration that women shall no longer be harmed by men, that feminism is engrained in a woman’s bones. That only the individual has a say in who they are and what is done to (or rather, with) them.
Song 2 full meaning: a curse. A cry for liberation from all that binds women, especially in the taboos of female sexuality.
Discussion: language at the roots of it all |
Benjamin Whorf writes that the “real concern [of linguistics] is to light up the thick darkness of language and thereby of much of the thought, the culture, and the outlook upon life of a given community” (Whorf 1964, 133). For me as a researcher, the words of the songs and the discussions surrounding the writing of the songs helped me to understand the way Icelanders use English as well as role of dance for these Icelandic women in the workshop. The first aspect of this workshop was the insight I was able to gain into Icelandic feminism and the terminology used in its discourse. The first aspect of this workshop was the insight I was able to gain into Icelandic feminism and the terminology used in its discourse. First, Gérald asked a question in regards to voice. He asked if women in Iceland feel empowered, referencing the fact that Iceland has been the top 1 or 2 in the world for equality for many years. The responses were quite interesting. One response was, “we are so few [In Iceland] – it’s easy to feel we were born with a voice.” This touches on another interview I had where the dancer told me that “Icelanders like to be noticed.” Another response stated that, “the things that are unequal are the immeasurable. Not wage gap or women in power, it is the silent things.” This aligned with a third response which stated that, “it is really hard to speak on these things because men don’t see it.” This got into the idea that feminism in Iceland, the terminology, and the visibility of these feminist issues were a bit behind the times in Iceland. A fourth spoke up and said that “we are really behind. Women and gay are ok. But no one understands trans, pronouns, fluidity, and so on.” This fourth comment was from a dancer who had just spent two years living in NYC for her MA. To me, two things were indicated by her comment and position: One cultural and one linguistic, both related. First, culturally Icelanders (men and women) feel that they have a voice in politics and other matters. Second, concepts of equality, are engrained in Icelandic culture in different ways, but not really changing. Third, this indicates that the hot topic identity politics and lingo that we see in the United States has not entered into culture in Iceland as it has here. Icelanders who spend time in the US or other European cities seem to be the ones bringing up these topics. In addition, many dancers are the ones addressing these ideas in their work. Which is radical. But in another sense, dance is a way that people are able to learn about these concepts because the idea of contemporary dance in Iceland is broad and bold and people enjoy watching. Thus, dance, as a kinesics language is used to discuss the more controversial topics. Dance is a media-scape in the way that Appadurai discusses this concept. Its boldness is accepted as art and as expanding possibilities in a way that radical language in certain genres would perhaps not be accepted. As Merrell discusses that in “more complex dance such as performing art we find the greatest range of sophistication of types of movements as well as the most direct relationship to the roots of movement” (Merrell 2000, 106). I would argue further that performance art tells stories through the movements that are centric to the cultural understanding of the intended audience. Words are not needed. Thus, dance in Iceland is a way to discuss these topics of feminism that are not in the broad lexical domain.
Despite the lack of understanding of some of the trendy and politically correct words, one of most interesting parts of this workshop for me is that Icelanders, in general, are not very shy in their language. Outside of this workshop, I was having a discussion with an Icelandic friend about another Icelander who moved to Ireland, my friend stated, “Why he would move from one shit country to the next shit country is beyond me.” As is clear from these songs, some of these lyrics would make an American cringe or feel shy and exposed. But the concept of these words to the Icelanders was not so much about the actual word meaning itself, but the impact that word could have in the song. Boldness, as stated by the dancer who feels Icelanders are born with a voice, is not looked down upon. Icelanders say it how it is. Often times thoughts are blunt and straightforward. While doing my research, an informant told me to ask about funding. I replied that I was afraid that would be too personal a question. She laughed and said of course not. That’s the biggest key to what dances get made, and everyone talks about it. Another time during the workshop Gerald was asking about why there were signs on things like, “I am a table, do not sit on me” around Iceland. His perception was tied to ancient animism and respect. A dancer scoffed, that doesn’t sound like Iceland. We are rude. It’s probably because we think tourists don’t know.” Opinions of others went back and forth, but the underlying message was that in Iceland you say the straightforward, it does not matter if it is blunt. That was reflected in the lyrics, “go copulate yourself” for example.
This brings me to Arjun Appadurai and the way that language and ideas spread across boundaries. First, each Icelander I talked to told me that they knew English so well both because they learned it in school starting in 1 grade, but also because of American and British television and music. One Icelander whose parents had not believed in TV expressed that she was often self-conscious of her English. Appadurai calls this “mediascapes” (Appadurai 1995, 36).
Next comes Appadurai’s idea of imagination. Through this workshop with a French musician, Icelanders, and an American the imagined community of international feminism was more tangible. Appadurai states that the “link between the imagination and social life […] is increasingly a global and deterritorialized one” (Appadurai 1995, 55). This was evident in the idea that Iceland does not hold a unique place in feminism and equality and that the ideas of what these things mean are in flux around the world. In this way, the language understanding of these manifestos was almost on par with my understandings, since TV often plays off of cultural norms and popular trends. Thus, some of the references and metaphors in the writings or that I would say were missed, but thanks to popular culture, most could easily be explained.
Collaboration with various disciplines was another big theme throughout my research and this particular workshop highlighted that very well. The Reykjavík Dance Festival is a part of Advancing Performing Arts Project (APAP), a European network of artists and venues. Each year every venue choses one artist to produce. This year the RDF chose Gérald, a French musician. Deliberately choosing a musician and thus to have a music writing residency in summer and a musical production in November, displays the independence dance scene in Iceland’s commitment to broadening the definition of dance. Many of the BA graduates from the dance program and the University of the Arts went on to get MAs in performance art. Most of the dancers I talked to were addressing scientific theories (climate change), philosophy (name), and other realms of art (Dadaism) in their dances. The dance grant in Iceland is set up for a long (4-6 month) period in which the dancer is expected to spend part of that time doing research before beginning construction of the dance.
Alongside this idea of collaboration across fields is the collaboration across nation-state boundaries. Most of the dancers I worked with have either studied or worked in other countries. Mostly in the Nordic region, Belgium, Berlin, or New York, USA. Thus, most of the dancers are working in English. The BA dance and MA performance art programs at the Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík are both taught in English. I observed rehearsals for a dance “Dear Human Being” that was conducted in Icelandic. During lunch one day the choreographer apologized to me saying, “normally there is at least one [person involved: dancer, musician, lights, etc] who cannot speak Icelandic. Normally we do it all in English. This time we are all Icelandic!” Therefore, the deeply academic manifestos that we read in the workshop, and the writing of the songs in English came almost naturally to the members of the workshop. There were words or phrases that they double-checked with me, and as is evident in the lyrics, sometimes they were creative with English, but the concept of working with theoretical texts and having discussions in their second language was not a new idea. Icelandic dancers survive as freelancers by being very international. The third year of the BA dancers do “exchange” for one semester. With the exception of one dancer this year who went to Chile and is using Spanish (her third language due to family) dancers go abroad and use English. Dance itself is an international language, using kinetics and detailed non-verbal communication to share stories, but internationally, dancers participate in the English language as well.
Thus these songs represent the complexities of the English language in Iceland, how it gets to Iceland, what words and concepts arrive in Iceland versus the words that don’t, and so on. The manifestos themselves were media used to facilitate discussion about somewhat universal concepts. The songs themselves became very clear Icelandic language artifacts that were written as a result of these various movements of language and ideas through TV, music, education, me, Gérald, and the manifestos. The song performance and the rest of the Reykjavík Dance Festival this month will also be a linguistic and kinetic means of discourse on the subject of feminism and queerness for the Icelandic and international audience.
Works Cited:
Appadurai, Arjun. 1996. Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Public Worlds, v. 1. Minneapolis, Minn: University of Minnesota Press.
Creek, Emily. “Field notes.” Summer 2017. (and thanks to Gerald and participants of choir!!!)
Haraway, Donna. 1985. “A Cyborg Manifesto.” Berkeley Socialist Review Collective.
Hymes, Dell H., ed. 1964. “A Linguistic Consideration of Thinking.” In Language in Culture and Society. New York: Harper and Row.
Merrell, Floyd. 2000. Change through Signs of Body, Mind and Language. Prospect Heights, Ill: Waveland Press.
Solanas, Valerie. 1967. “S.C.U.M.” Self-Published.
Stephan, Elizabeth M., and Annie M. Sprinkle. 2010. “EcoSex Manifesto.” Sexology.org.
All word definitions come from the New American Oxford Dictionary.
