What a cruel thing it is to be misunderstood. Since the Tower of Babel, surely, this has been a common sentiment. The transition from one language to another strips an idea bare and leaves its complexities behind. Within this harsh truth of reality lie questions related to differing perceptions of the shared human experience.

Humans articulate their beliefs in various different ways. Facial expressions, body language, writing style—these all contain traces of their author's soul. Does that soul remain throughout, or is it diminished with every subsequent translation? Linguistic determinism posits the idea that language shapes thought processes, and not the other way around. This idea is reinforced by the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, where its theorized language plays such a core part of our humanity, that it defines the way we live. More specifically, the words different languages use to categorize the world change the way those categories are understood as a whole. If this is true, it is all the more difficult for specific patterns of thinking shaped by a language’s structure to transcend linguistic barriers.

In the literary world, translation is a common occurrence. Oftentimes, novels are made available in multiple translations, by multiple different translators. However, despite the frequency of these translations, they can never be truly consistent. Translation cannot be an objective task. There is an element of cultural understanding and nuance that is lost on a non-native speaker. In reorienting a piece to pander to a different cultural understanding, is its original beauty being tarnished? How much of a translator's own interpretation skews an author's intent? How much of an author's unique prose and syntax is sacrificed to share their work across cultures? These questions have no concrete answers. There is no way for a translator to touch a page without leaving fingerprints on it.

Even within the same language, errors in translation occur. Restating and paraphrasing quotes leaves room for misinterpretation. Examples of this are seen in instances as simple as a clunkily translated comment or post. In a more complex case, the original intent of religious texts is often analyzed and argued, yet no objective understanding is ever met. At its core, an idea cannot be expressed without losing some of its original intent. This tangible evidence only confirms that the journey from a notion or feeling to a verbally expressed sentiment is a long one. We as humans speak for others to hear us. We express ourselves in ways palatable to others only so that we may get our point across. Despite translations, misunderstandings, physical barriers, or cultural distinctions, every person is only attempting to be understood.

When comparing the jump from one language to another to the translation from idea to expression, the complexities of shared human experience begin to make more sense. Despite the commonality in lived experiences across cultures, differences lie in the way they are communicated. There is no standardized language, just as there is no standardized form of expression. Speech, poetry, painting - everyone is conveying themselves in their own ways. Far after the invention of the written language, mankind has continued to chronicle adventures with art, which in itself says more than any language ever could. The act of speaking or writing is only one form of expression, which can be misconstrued just as easily as another. Yearning for an innate understanding of one another, mankind continuously practices and betters alternative forms of expression as means of connection.

After all, what difference is there between a work of art and a crying baby begging for something that cannot be understood? We are only using what we know to get across what we think. This is the essence of expression. This is the beauty of art, of literature, of the human condition. Where Steinbeck says, “Maybe ever'body in the whole damn world is scared of each other”, I say, maybe everybody in the whole damn world is trying to understand each other.

Written by Reagan Hughes, Photography: Christine Marinho, Social Media: Spurthi Challa