Daak Weekly: How Words Shape Our World
The Aymara people of the Andes in South America have a curious way of talking about time. Their terms for the future and the past translate to "the future is behind you" and "the past is in front of you." This contrasts with many languages, where the future is conceptualized as ahead of us and the past as behind us, suggesting that words can alter our reality. And what if we didn't have words for certain things — would we still experience them? These questions lie at the heart of linguistic relativity, a concept that examines the profound influence language has on our perception of the world. It raises another question: Is there such a thing as a universal experience, and can poetry, a medium inherently rife with ambiguity, capture it?
As a bilingual writer, translator, filmmaker, and teacher, Dilip Chitre wore many hats, but perhaps his most significant contribution was the examination of language and its role in building bridges. At a literary conference, he once remarked, “Everyone is a minority of one.” He was likely referring to the idea that our singular experiences lead us to imagine that each of us is an isolated minority. This human predicament, which makes poetry — and arguably all of literature — necessary, could not have been summarized better. His poetry is an attempt to breach the boundaries of linguistic relativity and plumb the depths of the universal.
Kamala Das looked to the body as a guide to crafting poetry. In a conversation with Eunice de Douza, she offered rare insight into her own life and writings. In her typical no-holds-barred style, she tackled sensitive topics and shared her views on a writer’s role in society. Often criticized for adopting a confessional style, Das argued that the wellspring of creativity and authenticity lies in one’s lived experiences, allowing a writer or poet to move from the individual to the collective.
In this interplay between individual and shared realities, poetry creates the space for play and meaning-making, ultimately enriching our understanding of the human condition.
Love,
Team Daak
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