[techtalk] Re: techtalk digest, Vol 1 #457 - 14 msgs

[Magni Onsoien]

A Kozic:
> I just finished reading Egalia's Daughters by Gerd Brantenberg
> (ISBN:0-93118-8342). It is a "White Man's Burden" style role reversal,
> covering the "masculinist movement" in a matriarchal society. They use
> "wim"/"wom", "menwim"/"menwom", and "huwom" (Though "wom" is a perfectly
> acceptable way to refer to "huwoms" in general.)
> 
> My favorite modification was "Lordies & Gentlewim". 
> 
> The modifications in language aren't so dense that you lose track of what
> is going on. The only word that I didn't get immediatly was the equivalent
> of "lesbian", (I can't recall the word now.) meaning, of course,
> homosexual menwim. (Homosexual wom are just "gay".) It is used on the
> first page, with little context. Once it becomes a theme it makes perfect
> sense.
> 
> It is also funny as all get out in places. I don't know that everyone
> would find it funny, but I was busting out laughing at certain parts.
> 
> 
> Interesting thing is it is a translation from German. I speak so little
> German that I couldn't read it as a whole, but I'd be interested in
> hearing how the modified vocabulary comes across in German.

Are  you sure it's translated from German? Brantenberg is Norwegian,
even though her name sound a bit German. However, the book is translated
to German so a translation from German to English may be possible, even
though it's strange (there isn't really a lack of translators from
Norwegian to English, and being a Philolog (German + English AFAIK)
Brantenberg would probably protest against such a double translation). But
I definitely don't know :)

Anyway. In the Norwegian version "dam" or "kvinn" (I think) is used for 
"man" (Norwegian equivalent for "one" or "man"). Those are derived from
"dame" and "kvinne" which are the norwegian words for woman. "Menneske"
(human) is "kvinneske". 

I haven't read the German version, but my first guess would be "weib" in
stead of "mann" (withour capital first letter), and maybe "Weibsch" in
stead of "Mensch"? It would be very interesting to hear the correct
translations though :)


Magni, who got this book from her mother on her 11th birthday :)
-- 
sash is very good for you.