Wunderkammer & The Title
An interesting topic of discussion herein played-out is the influence a title has, or has not, on its reading/passage.
What do you think of when you see this title?
Why is the title in both english and german?
My body - a wunderkammer....
I'll tell you what I first think of.... a body. And having some german background (5 years of highschool & placing in the highest of Pitt's language placement test) I notice wunder, quite like wunderbar... which means much more than just wonderful... its like its a story of magic... something you just can't put a finger on. At least thats my perception... and Kammer, I dont know what that is, but here are some returns:
Wunder:
Kammer:
Is the story about a wonderful jail cell? or maybe she's referring to the body, like cells, since the human body is made up of cells, intricately designed and yet so diverse in abilities...
Perhaps there is a marvelous room in her body? no, maybe her house... like in a castle, one room where magic happens? Yes? No? Hrm.
Or maybe, when combined, this wunderkammer means something totally different?
And why do you think she (the author) picked german of all languages?
I dont know but I can tell you one thing, german is an amazing language (++ personal bias). Many many words in german are sub-super-uber-exactingly-specific... for example, there may be thirty different ways to say money, and each depends on its context. At the same time, one word, may reveal and implicate an entire story. Rosen rot? Wunderkammer?
I think she picked it because wunderkammer has deep meaning, at least now reading the narrative(??) I think that was a perfect choice.
I dont want to give away what it actually means, or so I think.
I'll discuss the poem/narrative/story/writing, whatever it is that is so amazing, in more detail later.
Oh this is going to be a great discussion, ha. I think our professor picked this for many reasons. Lets just say, you will be pushing your boundaries... =)
-willy
What do you think of when you see this title?
Why is the title in both english and german?
My body - a wunderkammer....
I'll tell you what I first think of.... a body. And having some german background (5 years of highschool & placing in the highest of Pitt's language placement test) I notice wunder, quite like wunderbar... which means much more than just wonderful... its like its a story of magic... something you just can't put a finger on. At least thats my perception... and Kammer, I dont know what that is, but here are some returns:
Wunder:
- marvel
- miracle
- prodigy
- miracle(s) [plural]
- +miraculous
- wonder
Kammer:
- cell
- small room
- chamber
- cabin
Is the story about a wonderful jail cell? or maybe she's referring to the body, like cells, since the human body is made up of cells, intricately designed and yet so diverse in abilities...
Perhaps there is a marvelous room in her body? no, maybe her house... like in a castle, one room where magic happens? Yes? No? Hrm.
Or maybe, when combined, this wunderkammer means something totally different?
And why do you think she (the author) picked german of all languages?
I dont know but I can tell you one thing, german is an amazing language (++ personal bias). Many many words in german are sub-super-uber-exactingly-specific... for example, there may be thirty different ways to say money, and each depends on its context. At the same time, one word, may reveal and implicate an entire story. Rosen rot? Wunderkammer?
I think she picked it because wunderkammer has deep meaning, at least now reading the narrative(??) I think that was a perfect choice.
I dont want to give away what it actually means, or so I think.
I'll discuss the poem/narrative/story/writing, whatever it is that is so amazing, in more detail later.
Oh this is going to be a great discussion, ha. I think our professor picked this for many reasons. Lets just say, you will be pushing your boundaries... =)
-willy
posted by fxal.phitness at
5:52 PM
1 Comments:
I agree with you totally. After all, what use is a title if it doesn't say anything about the piece? I think that, beyond that, the tags for pages are incredibly interesting.
There will be one page, with a static and known material, but suddenly it's linked to several different concepts. The shoulders linked from a number of phrases all androgynous and vaguely inhuman, the armpits linked from a number of different phrases. Each time you go from one to another it adds a different thought to the part of the body. Really cool idea, I want to borrow it sometime.
Then you can think about parts of the body in combination to other parts of the body. The hair sections are fairly interwoven, linking between each other. Sentiments of sexuality are linked to parts generally un-thought of like shoulders and armpits. What can you find out by looking at a section in terms of the sections it makes reference to? I'm still figuring out!
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