The original word of interpret was 'interpreten' in French. 'Interpreten' means an 'interpreter', which has a similar meaning to 'translator' of different languages according to Oxford English Dictionary. This brought up a question about the difference between interpreter and translator. After a detailed search on the word, I could find out that if one orally explains the meaning of what a person is saying in a language to the other person of different language in a conversation, then, he is interpreting that person’s words. If a meaning of a word or a sentence in certain language is written in another language, one can say it’s an act of translating.
The word, interpret was not found in Old English but in Middle English. In the 14th century, its word form was changed from noun to verb as well as the meaning. Until the 14th century, the word, interpret was used as an 'interpreter' or a 'negotiator' which all indicate a person. These days, interpret is an action of explaining meanings of various things. The meanings of interpret in the history and today are still connected and have similarities as both indicates explanation of certain meanings. However, there is a distinct shift which is that now many different meanings can be interpreted from one thing. Also, interpretaion is not only about languages anymore. Anything can be interpreted, and there is no fixed meaning, because interpretation can be done under one’s individual belief or judgment.
There are different contexts related to the word, interpret. For example, one can be misunderstood by interpreting someone’s words unfavorably. Also, feeling a sense of danger can also be one’s interpretation. As mentioned above, translating still can be the meaning of interpreting these days, accept that it does not indicate a person anymore. Interestingly, the word, interpret is used in many fields with slightly different senses. A musician’s understandings of rhythm or music paper can be seen as an interpretation. Also, an engineer’s understandings of the computer language like numbers and symbols can also be explained as interpretation. A movie director makes a movie according to his interpretation. Although the fields that interpret is used are different, they all are in relationship under that interpret is basically one’s understanding of meanings.
The reason why I chose interpret as my keyword is because it connects to almost every words discussed in class, the media we analyzed and even to our group project. The keywords that are obviously and mostly connected to the word, interpret, are culture, ideology, image and sign.
As a design major, I think the skills of correctly and sometimes creatively interpreting images and signs of a visual work are very important for me to have. Also, all designers are required to create interpretable works that people can enjoy and take advantages in their lives. What is fascinating is that images and signs can be interpreted in so many ways. Even a single drawing of an eraser can be interpreted very differently among people.
This connects directly to the group project which was about seeing how different random people interpret the five pictures we picked and comparing their interpretations to ours. The medium I chose was Naver which South Korean people use. After all, I was personally satisfied by the result that I got responses different from those of American people because of the culture difference and ideology affected by their culture. For example, one responded to the picture with his religious view of Buddhism which is a pretty common religion in Asia.
Lastly, media is also connected to the word, interpret. For example, our group could get different types of responses based on each medium’s character. Facebook which users interpret as a website for socializations got comments somewhat dialogical and it was different from those in Crystal’s forum.
In conclusion, it is interesting to see the change in use of the word, interpret from one fixed meaning of translating to those various meanings in many fields today. Because it changed, we are all endowed with opportunities of interpreting things around us to anything based on personal beliefs which can be very meaningful and even philosophical. Also, it would be even more interesting to think about how the word, interpret, will evolve again and be interpreted differently in the future.
1 comment:
This is an excellent post—I am glad to see that you are excited and energized by the ways your writing and critical reading/thinking skills have improved over these six weeks. I, too, have noticed a real difference. This is a great keyword, in part because (as you write) it is connected to what we did in class and in our assignments. It is also a complex term and you have done well in a short space to communicate its importance. Also, I like how you connect it to your major, and the graphics you include are great. Nice work—I am so glad you stayed in the course, even though I sneaked a presentation in there!
Post a Comment