Suzanne Talhouk: Don't kill your language

Translator: khalid marbou Reviewer: Anwar Dafa-Alla

Prevodilac: Stefan Zrnović Lektor: Mile Živković

Good morning!

Dobro jutro!

Are you awake?

Da li ste budni?

They took my name tag, but I wanted to ask you,

Uzeli su mi akreditaciju, ali sam želela da vas pitam

did anyone here write their name on the tag in Arabic?

da li neko ovde ima napisano svoje ime na akreditaciji na arapskom?

Anyone! No one? All right, no problem.

Bilo ko! Niko? U redu, nema problema.

Once upon a time, not long ago,

Nekada davno, ne previše davno,

I was sitting in a restaurant with my friend, ordering food.

sedela sam u restoranu sa prijateljicom i naručivala hranu.

So I looked at the waiter and said,

Pogledala sam u konobara i rekla:

"Do you have a menu (Arabic)?"

"Da li imate jelovnik (arapski)?"

He looked at me strangely, thinking that he misheard.

Pogledao me je čudno, misleći da nije dobro čuo.

He said, "Sorry? (English)."

Rekao je: "Pardon (engleski)."

I said, "The menu (Arabic), please."

Rekla sam: "Jelovnik (arapski), molim vas."

He replied, "Don't you know what they call it?"

Odgovorio je: "Zar ne znate kako to zovu?"

"I do."

"Znam."

He said, "No! It's called "menu" (English), or "menu" (French)."

Rekao je: "Ne! Zove se "jelovnik" (engleski) ili " meni" (francuski)".

Is the French pronunciation correct?

Da li je francuski izgovor tačan?

"Come, come, take care of this one!" said the waiter.

"Dođi, dođi, pobrini se za ovu!" rekao je konobar.

He was disgusted when talking to me, as if he was saying to himself,

Bio je zgađen kad je razgovarao sa mnom, kao da je govorio u sebi:

"If this was the last girl on Earth, I wouldn't look at her!"

"Da je ovo poslednja žena na planeti, ne bih je pogledao!"

What's the meaning of saying "menu" in Arabic?

Koje je značenje reči " jelovnik" na arapskom jeziku?

Two words made a Lebanese young man judge a girl as being backward

Dve reči su učinile da mladi Libanac devojku smatra zaostalom

and ignorant.

i neznalicom.

How could she speak that way?

Kako ona može tako da govori?

At that moment, I started thinking.

U tom trenutku, počela sam da razmišljam.

It made me mad.

Naljutilo me je.

It definitely hurts!

Definitvno boli!

I'm denied the right to speak my own language in my own country?

Nemam pravo da govorim svoj jezik u svojoj sopstvenoj zemlji?

Where could this happen?

Gde bi se ovo moglo desiti?

How did we get here?

Kako je došlo do ovoga?

Well, while we are here, there are many people like me,

Dok smo mi ovde, postoji mnogo ljudi poput mene,

who would reach a stage in their lives, where they involuntarily give up

koji bi dospeli do tog nivoa u svojim životima, gde nevoljno odustaju

everything that has happened to them in the past,

od svega što im se desilo u prošlosti,

just so they can say that they're modern

samo da bi mogli da kažu da su moderni

and civilized.

i civilizovani.

Should I forget all my culture, thoughts,

Treba li da zaboravim svu svoju kulturu, misli,

intellect and all my memories?

intelekt i svoja sećanja?

Childhood stories might be the best memories we have of the war!

Priče iz detinjstva mogu biti najbolja sećanja koja nosimo iz rata!

Should I forget everything I learned in Arabic, just to conform?

Treba li da zaboravim sve što sam naučila na arapskom, samo da bih se prilagodila?

To be one of them?

Da bi bila jedna od njih?

Where's the logic in that?

Gde je tu logika?

Despite all that, I tried to understand him.

Uprkos svemu tome, pokušala sam da ga razumem.

I didn't want to judge him with the same cruelty that he judged me.

Nisam htela da ga osuđujem sa istom surovošću kao što je to on meni učinio.

The Arabic language doesn't satisfy today's needs.

Arapski jezik ne zadovoljava današnje potrebe.

It's not a language for science,

Nije jezik za nauku,

research,

istraživanje,

a language we're used to in universities,

jezik koji smo koristili na univerzitetima,

a language we use in the workplace,

jezik koji korisitmo na radnim mestima,

a language we rely on if we were to perform an advanced research project,

na koji se oslanjamo jedino kada izvodimo napredne istraživačke projekte,

and it definitely isn't a language we use at the airport.

i to definitivno nije jezik koji koristimo na aerodromima.

If we did so, they'd strip us of our clothes.

Da to radimo, skinuli bi nam odeću.

Where can I use it, then? We could all ask this question!

Gde ga onda mogu korisiti? Mogli bismo da postavimo ovo pitanje!

So, you want us to use Arabic. Where are we to do so?

Dakle, želite da koristite arapski. Gde to da činimo?

This is one reality.

Ovo je stvarnost.

But we have another more important reality that we ought to think about.

Ali imamo drugu važniju stvarnost o kojoj moramo da mislimo.

Arabic is the mother tongue.

Arapski je maternji jezik.

Research says that mastery of other languages

Istraživanje kaže da znanje drugih jezika

demands mastery of the mother tongue.

zahteva veštinu znanja maternjeg jezika.

Mastery of the mother tongue is a prerequisite for creative expression in other languages.

Znanje sopstvenog jezika je preduslov za kreativno izražavanje na drugim jezicima.

How?

Kako?

Gibran Khalil Gibran,

Gibran Kalil Gibran,

when he first started writing, he used Arabic.

kada je prvi put počeo da piše, koristio je arapski.

All his ideas, imagination and philosophy

Sve njegove ideje, mašta i filozofija

su bili inspirisani ovim dečakom u selu

were inspired by this little boy in the village

where he grew up, smelling a specific smell,

kada je odrastao i mirisao određeni miris,

hearing a specific voice,

slušao poseban glas

and thinking a specific thought.

i mislio posebne misli.

So, when he started writing in English, he had enough baggage.

Kada je počeo da piše na engleskom, imao je dovoljno materijala.

Even when he wrote in English,

Čak kada je pisao na engleskom,

when you read his writings in English, you smell the same smell,

kada čitate njegove spise na engleskom, osećate isti miris

sense the same feeling.

imate isti osećaj.

You can imagine that that's him writing in English,

Možete da zamislite da je to on koji piše na engleskom,

the same boy who came from the mountain. From a village on Mount Lebanon.

isti dečak ko je došao sa planine. Iz sela na Mont Libanu.

So, this is an example no one can argue with.

Ovo je primer koji niko ne može da ospori.

Second, it's often said that if you want to kill a nation,

Drugo, često se kaže da ako želite da ubijete naciju,

the only way to kill a nation,

jedini način da to uradite,

is to kill its language.

je da ubijete njen jezik.

This is a reality that developed societies are aware of.

Ovo je stvarnost koje su razvijena društva svesna.

The Germans, French, Japanese and Chinese, all these nations are aware of this.

Nemci, Francuzi, Japanci i Kinezi, svi ti narodi su svesni toga.

That's why they legislate to protect their language.

Zato imaju zakone koji štite njihove jezike.

They make it sacred.

Učinili su ga svetim.

That's why they use it in production, they pay a lot of money to develop it.

Zato ih koriste u svom stvaranju, plaćaju mnogo novca da bi ga razvili.

Do we know better than them?

Da li mi znamo bolje od njih?

All right,

U redu,

we aren't from the developed world,

mi ne potičemo iz razvijenog sveta,

this advanced thinking hasn't reached us yet,

ovo napredno mišljenje nije doprlo do nas još uvek,

and we would like to catch up with the civilized world.

i voleli bismo da ispratimo civilizovani svet.

Countries that were once like us, but decided to strive for development,

Zemlje koje su nekad bile poput nas, odlučile su da se okrenu razvoju,

do research,

urade istraživanje,

and catch up with those countries,

i dostignu te zemlje,

such as Turkey, Malaysia and others,

kao što su Turska, Malezija i ostale.

they carried their language with them as they were climbing the ladder,

Nosile su svoj jezik sa sobom kako su se uspinjale na lestvici,

protected it like a diamond.

zaštićen kao dijamant.

They kept it close to them.

Držale su ga blizu sebe.

Because if you get any product from Turkey or elsewhere

Jer ako dobijete bilo koji proizvod iz Turske ili bilo gde

and it's not labeled in Turkish,

a nije označen na turskom,

then it isn't a local product.

to onda nije lokalni proizvod.

You wouldn't believe it's a local product.

Ne biste verovali da je lokalni proizvod.

They'd go back to being consumers,

Vratili biste se nazad mušterijama,

clueless consumers, like we are most of the time.

neobaveštenim potrošačima, kakvi smo svi većinom vremena.

So, in order for them to innovate and produce, they had to protect their language.

U cilju uvođenja novina i stvaranja, morali su da štite svoj jezik.

If I say, "Freedom, sovereignty, independence (Arabic),"

Ako kažem: "Sloboda, suverenitet, nezavisnost (arapski)",

what does this remind you of?

na šta vas to podseća?

It doesn't ring a bell, does it?

Ne pali vam lampicu, zar ne?

Regardless of the who, how and why.

Bez obzira na koga, kako i zašto.

Language isn't just for conversing, just words coming out of our mouths.

Jezik nije samo za razgovor, samo reči koje izlaze iz usta.

Language represents specific stages in our lives,

Jezik predstavlja posebne stadijume u našim životima,

and terminology that is linked to our emotions.

i terminologiju koja je povezana sa našim životima.

So when we say, "Freedom, sovereignty, independence,"

Kada kažemo "sloboda, suverenitet, nezavisnost",

each one of you draws a specific image in their own mind,

svako od vas slika posebnu sliku u sopstvenom umu,

there are specific feelings

tu su posebna osećanja

of a specific day in a specific historical period.

posebnog dana u posebnom istorijskom periodu.

Language isn't one, two or three words or letters put together.

Jezik nije jedna, dve ili tri reči ili slova zajedno sastavljena.

It's an idea inside that relates to how we think,

To je unutrašnja ideja koja se povezuje sa načinom na koji mislimo,

and how we see each other and how others see us.

i kako vidimo jedni druge i kako drugi vide nas.

What is our intellect?

Šta je naš intelekt?

How do you say whether this guy understands or not?

Kako reći da li nas ovaj čovek razume ili ne?

So, if I say, "Freedom, sovereignty, independence (English),"

Ako kažem: "Sloboda, suverenitet, nezavisnost (engleski)",

or if your son came up to you and said,

ili ako vam priđe sin i kaže

"Dad, have you lived through the period of the freedom (English) slogan?"

"Tata, da li si živeo u periodu slogana freedom (engleski)?"

How would you feel?

Kako biste se osećali?

If you don't see a problem,

Ako ne vidite problem,

then I'd better leave, and stop talking in vain.

onda je bolje da odem i prestanem da pričam uzalud.

The idea is that these expressions remind us of a specific thing.

Poenta je da nas ova očekivanja podsećaju na određenu stvar.

I have a francophone friend who's married to a French man.

Imam frankofonu prijateljicu koja je udata za Francuza.

I asked her once how things were going.

Pitala sam je jednom kako joj ide.

She said, "Everything is fine,

Rekla je: "Sve je dobro,

but once, I spent a whole night asking and trying to translate

ali sam jednom provela čitavu noć pitajući se i tražeći prevod

the meaning of the word 'toqborni' for him."

značenja reči "toqborni" za njega."

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

The poor woman had mistakenly told him "toqborni,"

Sirotica mu je greškom rekla "toqborni",

and then spent the whole night trying to explain it to him.

i onda provela čitavu noć pokušavajući da mu je objasni.

He was puzzled by the thought: "How could anyone be this cruel?

Bio je zbunjen mišlju: "Kako neko može biti tako okrutan?"

Does she want to commit suicide?

Da li želi da izvrši samoubistvo?

'Bury me?' (English)"

"Zakopa me? (engleski)"

This is one of the few examples.

Ovo je jedan od primera.

It made us feel that she's unable to tell that word to her husband,

Učinilo je da smatramo da ne zna da kaže tu reč svom mužu,

since he won't understand,

jer je neće razumeti

and he's right not to; his way of thinking is different.

i u pravu je što je ne razume; njegov način razmišljanja je drugačiji.

She said to me, "He listens to Fairuz with me,

Rekla mi je: "Sluša Fairuzu sa mnom,

and one night, I tried to translate for him

i jedne noći pokušala sam da mu prevedem

so he can feel what I feel when I listen to Fairuz."

da bi i on mogao da oseti isto što i ja kada slušam Fairuzu."

The poor woman tried to translate this for him:

Sirotica je pokušala da mu prevede:

"From them I extended my hands and stole you --"

"Od njih sam pružila svoje ruke i ukrala te -"

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

And here's the pickle:

Ali evo problema:

"And because you belong to them, I returned my hands and left you."

"A pošto im pripadaš, vratila sam svoje ruke i napustila te."

(Laughter)

(Smeh)

Translate that for me.

Prevedite mi to.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

So, what have we done to protect the Arabic language?

I šta smo uradili da zaštitimo arapski jezik?

We turned this into a concern of the civil society,

Preokrenuli smo ovo u brigu građanskog društva,

and we launched a campaign to preserve the Arabic language.

i lansirali smo kampanju da sačuvamo arapski jezik.

Even though many people told me, "Why do you bother?

Iako mi je mnogo ljudi reklo: "Zašto se brineš?

Forget about this headache and go have fun."

Zaboravi na tu glavobolju i idi zabavi se."

No problem!

Nema problema!

The campaign to preserve Arabic launched a slogan that says,

Kampanja očuvanja arapskog jezika sastavila je slogan koji kaže:

"I talk to you from the East, but you reply from the West."

"Govorim ti sa Istoka, a ti odgovori sa Zapada."

We didn't say, "No! We do not accept this or that."

Nismo rekli: "Ne! Ne prihvatamo ovo ili ono."

We didn't adopt this style because that way, we wouldn't be understood.

Nismo usvojili ovaj stil jer tako ne bismo bili shvaćeni.

And when someone talks to me that way, I hate the Arabic language.

I kada mi neko govori na taj način, mrzim arapski jezik.

We say--

Kažemo -

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

We want to change our reality,

Želimo da promenimo svoju stvarnost

and be convinced in a way that reflects our dreams, aspirations and day-to-day life.

i budemo uvereni na način koji izražava naše snove, nadanja i svakodnevni život.

In a way that dresses like us and thinks like we do.

Na način na koji se ponaša i misli kao i mi.

So, "I talk to you from the East, but you reply from the West"

Stoga je "govorim ti sa Istoka, a ti odgovori sa Zapada."

has hit the spot.

pogodilo cilj.

Something very easy, yet creative and persuasive.

Nešto veoma jednostavno, ali i kreativno i ubedljivo.

After that, we launched another campaign

Nakon toga, pokrenuli smo drugu kampanju

with scenes of letters on the ground.

sa scenama slova na zemlji.

You've seen an example of it outside,

Videli ste taj primer napolju,

a scene of a letter surrounded by black and yellow tape

prizor slova okruženih crnom i žutom trakom

with "Don't kill your language!" written on it.

sa ispisanim "nemojte ubiti svoj jezik".

Why? Seriously, don't kill your language.

Zašto? Ozbiljno, ne ubijajte svoj jezik.

We really shouldn't kill our language.

Zaista ne bi trebalo da ubijamo svoj jezik.

If we were to kill the language, we'd have to find an identity.

Ako bismo ga ubijali, trebalo bi da nađemo identitet.

We'd have to find an existence.

Trebalo bi da nađemo postojanje.

We'd go back to the beginning.

Trebalo bi da se vratimo nazad na početak.

This is beyond just missing our chance of being modern and civilized.

Ovde se ne radi o tome da gubimo priliku da budemo moderni i civilizovani.

After that we released photos of guys and girls wearing the Arabic letter.

Nakon toga smo objavili slike momaka i devojaka koji nose arapska slova.

Photos of "cool" guys and girls.

Slike "kul" momaka i devojaka.

We are very cool!

Veoma smo kul!

And to whoever might say, "Ha! You used an English word!"

I onima koji bi rekli: "Ha, upotrebili ste englesku reč!"

I say, "No! I adopt the word 'cool.'"

kažem: "Ne! Usvajam reč kul."

Let them object however they want, but give me a word that's nicer

Pustite ih da sude kako žele, ali mi dajte lepšu reč

and matches the reality better.

i koja se slaže bolje sa stvarnošću.

I will keep on saying "Internet"

Nastaviću da govorim "internet",

I wouldn't say: "I'm going to the world wide web"

ne bih rekla: "Idem na svetsku mrežu."

(Laughs)

(Smeh)

Because it doesn't fit! We shouldn't kid ourselves.

Jer se ne uklapa! Ne bi trebalo da se zavaravamo.

But to reach this point, we all have to be convinced

Ali da bi se dostigla ova tačka, svi treba da budemo uvereni

that we shouldn't allow anyone who is bigger

da ne bi trebalo da dozvolimo nikome ko je veći

or thinks they have any authority over us when it comes to language,

ili misli da ima bilo kakav autoritet nad nama kada je jezik u pitanju,

to control us or make us think and feel what they want.

da nas kontroliše ili da nas uveri da mislimo i osećamo ono što on želi.

Creativity is the idea.

Kreativnost je ideja.

Ako ne možemo da dostignemo svemir ili napravimo raketu i tako dalje,

So, if we can't reach space or build a rocket and so on,

we can be creative.

možemo da budemo kreativni.

At this moment, every one of you is a creative project.

U ovom trenutku, svako od vas je kreativni projekat.

Creativity in your mother tongue is the path.

Kreativnost u vašem maternjem jeziku je putanja.

Let's start from this moment.

Počnimo od ovog trenutka.

Let's write a novel or produce a short film.

Počnimo da pišemo roman ili stvaramo kratki film.

A single novel could make us global again.

Jedan roman bi mogao da nas ponovo učini globalnim.

It could bring the Arabic language back to being number one.

Mogao bi da vrati arapski jezik na prvo mesto.

So, it's not true that there's no solution; there is a solution!

Nije istina da nema rešenja - postoji rešenje!

But we have to know that, and be convinced that a solution exists,

Ali moramo to da znamo i da budemo uvereni da rešenje postoji,

that we have a duty to be part of that solution.

da imamo obavezu da budemo deo tog rešenja.

In conclusion, what can you do today?

Da zaključim, šta možemo da uradimo danas?

Now, tweets, who's tweeting?

Sad, tvitovi, ko tvituje?

Please, I beg of you, even though my time has finished,

Molim vas, preklinjem vas, iako mi je vreme isteklo,

either Arabic, English, French or Chinese.

bilo da je na arapskom, engleskom, francuskom ili kineskom.

But don't write Arabic with Latin characters mixed with numbers!

Ali ne pišite arapski latiničnim slovima mešanim sa brojevima!

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

It's a disaster! That's not a language.

To je užasno! To nije jezik.

You'd be entering a virtual world with a virtual language.

Ulazite u virtuelni svet sa virtuelnim jezikom.

It's not easy to come back from such a place and rise.

Nije lako vratiti se nazad iz takvog mesta i uzdići.

That's the first thing we can do.

To je prva stvar koju možemo da uradimo.

Second, there are many other things that we can do.

Druga je da postoji mnogo drugih stvari koje možemo da učinimo.

We're not here today to convince each other.

Nismo danas ovde da bismo ubeđivali jedni druge.

We're here to bring attention to the necessity of preserving this language.

Ovde smo da bismo privukli pažnju na neophodnost čuvanja ovog jezika.

Now I will tell you a secret.

Odaću vam tajnu.

A baby first identifies its father

Beba se prvo identifikuje sa ocem

through language.

putem jezika.

When my daughter is born, I'll tell her, "This is your father, honey (Arabic)."

Kada se rodila moja ćerka, rekla sam joj: "Ovo je tvoj otac, dušo (arapski)".

I wouldn't say, "This is your dad, honey (English)."

Nisam rekla: "Ovo je tvoj otac, dušo (engleski)."

And in the supermarket, I promise my daughter Noor,

U supermarketu, obećavam svojoj ćerki Nor,

that if she says to me, "Thanks (Arabic),"

da ako mi kaže: "Hvala (arapski)", neću joj reći

I won't say, "Dis, 'Merci, Maman,'" and hope no one has heard her.

"Reci 'Hvala mama' (francuski)", nadajući se da je niko nije čuo.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Let's get rid of this cultural cringe.

Hajde da se rešimo ovog kulturnog ropstva.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)