{"id":108,"date":"2008-07-23T11:48:11","date_gmt":"2008-07-23T15:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/?p=108"},"modified":"2008-07-23T11:48:11","modified_gmt":"2008-07-23T15:48:11","slug":"mr-geremeks-funeral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/polish\/mr-geremeks-funeral\/","title":{"rendered":"Mr. Geremek’s Funeral"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>This past Monday I was listening to the funeral services for Bronis\u0142aw Geremek<\/a><\/strong>. Only listening, because I\u2019m not into state funerals with full honors, unless of course, it\u2019s one of the world\u2019s famous despots who\u2019s dead \u2013 their funerals are always fun. But the service on Monday was very dignified, sad and solemn.<\/p>\n

Bronis\u0142aw Geremek<\/strong> was by all accounts an outstanding man and a distinguished politician. You might have heard of him as one of the figures behind the Solidarity (Solidarno\u015b\u0107<\/a><\/strong>) movement. To many people, and especially to people abroad, Solidarno\u015b\u0107<\/strong> has become synonymous with Lech Wa\u0142\u0119sa<\/a><\/strong>, but of course as with any political movement, it wasn\u2019t just a one-man show. In 1989 Mr. Geremek<\/strong> participated in the Round Table negotiations, which resulted in the first free and democratic Polish elections after WW2.<\/p>\n

Later on, he was appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (1997-2000).<\/p>\n

In addition to being a famous political figure, he was also a respected medieval historian. Actually, that\u2019s how I became familiar with his name. I\u2019m a total political ignoramus, I freely admit it. When exposed to political news of any kind, my brain performs an immediate emergency shut-down. And when exposed to Polish political news, the results are even worse.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So because I\u2019m not a fan of current politics, choosing instead to pursue goofier hobbies like medieval history, the first time the name \u201cGeremek<\/strong>\u201d registered in my consciousness was when perusing a paper about underworld groups in medieval Paris. The paper was an English translation from French, and referenced Mr. Geremek<\/strong>\u2019s extensive research into the topic.<\/p>\n

Dude! I didn\u2019t even know they had gangs and organized crime back then! They even had human trafficking rings dealing in prostitution. See? Not that much has changed in Europe since the 14th century.<\/p>\n

In academia, Mr. Geremek<\/strong>\u2019s specialty was French medieval history and his research covered some very interesting subjects. Really. He was so famous as a scholar, he even lectured at the Sorbonne for some time. Like I said, a truly remarkable man. He died in a car crash on July 13. He was 76 years old.<\/p>\n

But when I was listening to the audio of the funeral service I found myself grinding my teeth. The quality of the official live English language interpretation left a lot to be desired. OK, I\u2019ll say it, it was bad. Really bad. I understand that simultaneous interpretation is not for everyone, but Mr. Geremek<\/strong> deserved better. And surely somewhere in Poland there must be qualified professionals, who know how to use “a” and “the”.<\/p>\n

Oh yes, the articles! The reason why they inflict so much pain upon the Polish speakers of English is the simple fact that there\u2019s no such thing in our native language.<\/p>\n

So, both \u201ca woman\u201d and \u201cthe woman\u201d would be translated simply as \u201ckobieta<\/a><\/strong>\u201d (woman) into Polish.<\/p>\n

When translating the other way round complications abound, as the poor woman interpreting at Mr. Geremek<\/strong>\u2019s funeral had not so nicely demonstrated to the whole wide world.<\/p>\n

But for those who are learning Polish, the lack of indefinite and definite articles should be pleasant news \u2013 finally there\u2019s something that is actually EASIER in Polish than it is in English.<\/p>\n

photo: Wikipedia<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

This past Monday I was listening to the funeral services for Bronis\u0142aw Geremek. Only listening, because I\u2019m not into state funerals with full honors, unless of course, it\u2019s one of the world\u2019s famous despots who\u2019s dead \u2013 their funerals are always fun. But the service on Monday was very dignified, sad and solemn. Bronis\u0142aw Geremek…<\/p>\n

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