Foreigners

[abu nuwas]

This thread leads me to another thought: why is it language that makes something "foreign"?

To me, Kerouac is foreign and exotic. So is Byron. Removed by distance, culture, time -- the only commonalities are the emotions. That's what links us. Though they may be triggered by different events and situations, emotions are the same the world over, and have been for a pretty damn long time.

It is not only language. We perceive a thing as foreign which is the product of a culture more or less different from our own. Language acts almost as a straight-jacket, I think, guiding us to think in particular ways. Leaving aside the structure, even such things as vocabulary open and close doors. So people joke about the Arabs that they have thousands of words for camels, and sand. So they do. They differentiate where we do not, although we understand readily enough with horses. The British, being an island nation, have used the sea and rivers for transport, commerce war, and survival. A huge number of boaty words are of Scandinavian origin, and we in turn differentiate of these maritime things. I scent another thread in the offing....But you are right about plight and emotions: Ray's Goya pic resonates it depicts a side of humanity, as fresh now, as it was then.