Difference between revisions of "329-2010--Week 2 Questions/Comments"
From McClurken Wiki
Bakhtinjali (Talk | contribs) (→John Smith (1608) reading) |
Celiacroft (Talk | contribs) (→John Smith (1608) reading) |
||
| Line 99: | Line 99: | ||
An extension of Mary Ann's discussion of language: John Smith writes of his interactions with the Native Americans without the slightest hint of a language barrier. While I do agree that just stating that there was random and ineffective pointing does not make for a riveting journal, one must wonder exactly how these two groups managed to communicate. This question becomes particularly complicated in relation to the deep level of conversation. Case in point, explaining that the earth is round without knowing the word for earth is more than a little difficult. John Smith also manages to demand that the natives send a letter to his camp and also explain the nature of sailing, or even noting that he would be released in four days. I now that the counter will be that perhaps the king raised up four fingers, however don't be so assured that using your hands to count is in a universal fashion! Or even worse on page ten "I told him being in fight with Spaniards our enemy, being overpowered, near put to retreat, and by extreme weather put to this shore..."These are not trivial or easy subject matters. Say what you will, but language barriers and diplomacy go hand and hand.-Joe | An extension of Mary Ann's discussion of language: John Smith writes of his interactions with the Native Americans without the slightest hint of a language barrier. While I do agree that just stating that there was random and ineffective pointing does not make for a riveting journal, one must wonder exactly how these two groups managed to communicate. This question becomes particularly complicated in relation to the deep level of conversation. Case in point, explaining that the earth is round without knowing the word for earth is more than a little difficult. John Smith also manages to demand that the natives send a letter to his camp and also explain the nature of sailing, or even noting that he would be released in four days. I now that the counter will be that perhaps the king raised up four fingers, however don't be so assured that using your hands to count is in a universal fashion! Or even worse on page ten "I told him being in fight with Spaniards our enemy, being overpowered, near put to retreat, and by extreme weather put to this shore..."These are not trivial or easy subject matters. Say what you will, but language barriers and diplomacy go hand and hand.-Joe | ||
| + | |||
| + | If nothing else, John Smith's account exemplifies the ambiguous state of relations between the colonists and the Native Americans. It was either tenuous peace or warfare, and Smith shows that by constantly going back and forth in the way he depicts them - one paragraph, the Native Americans are endlessly benevolent and helpful, and in the next there is a brutal fight between the natives and the colonists. It shows the colonists' lives in America as unsettling and volatile - a constantly changing state. - Celia | ||
