We've been told many times that Dante Alighieri is without a doubt a genius. Why then does he have some of his characters speak in gibberish? The particular section in question is in Canto Seven, the First Line. Plutus speaks to the poets, saying "Papa Satan, Papa Satan, aleppy." In the notes for this Canto, Ciardi says that "Papa Satan" is likely a reference to "Il papa santo," (the Pope), making "Papa Satan" the Pope's opposite. This kind of word play is far beyond my comprehension and begs the question: Is gibberish a sign of utter stupidity or absolute genius?
When you check out Dictionary.com, a search for "gibberish" yields "meaningless or unintelligible talk or writing." In Freshman year I dated a girl whose mother and aunt had created their own language out of what seemed like gibberish. What I heard fit the above description, and yet the two sisters talked with what appeared to be absolute clarity. My girlfriend and I were in the back seat and she had a completely straight face, so I believed that I wasn't being fooled. Though I never asked what precipitated their need for a new language, I was fascinated by the exchanges I witnessed.
Pig Latin is a common example of gibberish that I've always had a huge amount of trouble with. For those of you who don't know, pig Latin manipulates words according to a set formula: the first syllable of a word is moved to the rear and an -ay is added; the rest of the word remains unchanged. Thus, the word "favorite" becomes"avoritefay." It's so confusing. My brain can't wrap around the speed at which some can speak this, and I need a minute or two to decode what it is that I'm hearing if I can decode it at all. Most of the time, it sounds like utter gibberish. Maybe you just need a different kind of mind in order to comprehend gibberish- neither smarter nor dumber, just different, more creative perhaps. Either way, I'll continue my struggle with pig Latin and wish all of you the best of luck too whether in a new language or just the Inferno.
I find it interesting that you bring up the topic of Pig Latin and how it baffles you. Personally, I find the "language" easy to comprehend. I was confused at a young age when two people would speak Pig Latin in front of a third party in the room who wasn't supposed to get the message because I thought it was so simple! It's not a topic I've ever openly discussed, so I just assumed that everyone shared my opinion, but reading your post that contradicts my thoughts got me thinking. I guess gibberish doesn't have to do with whether you're a genius or not, but what kind of mind you have. Naturally, I think pretty logically, and it's easy for me to understand things that confuse others (like geometry), and on the flip-side, things that come easier to others challenge me. I'm getting kind of ahead of myself, but maybe I'm trying to say that since everyone is different, our intelligence, or "genius", can't exactly be measured.
ReplyDeleteMark Pagel talks about how certain groups develop language to keep their "secrets" from other groups.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImQrUjlyHUg
I wonder what kind of secrets your ex's mother and aunt were keeping from you. Ettyprey ysteriousmay!