Learning&Conversing LO9518

Rachel Silber (rachel@ontos.com)
Tue, 27 Aug 1996 11:13:11 -0400 (EDT)

Replying to LO9463 --

"John Paul Fullerton said: "
> > Buber also writes about the I and Thou dynamic, a fully human
> > relationship and dialogue.
>
> I also went through "I and Thou" probably over 15 years ago and
> still remember the reverential tone for the other person. That's not
> the reason I capitalize the word "You" (rather than big I little u),
> though I guess it's related :) In fact, earlier this evening the
> thought came to mind how in French they have the familiar form of
> the word "You" and the formal and in English (or American) we have
> the one word.

I also read "I and Thou" about 15 years ago, and it is probably time
to read it again. A German-speaking friend told me that in German
the title translates as simply "I and You". I believe that the
reverential tone for the other person was Buber's intent, but in
English the effect is greatly magnified by the word Thou instead of
You.

Well, translation may seem to be far afield of the learning org topic,
so I will provide my own segue -- translation is a special case of the
difficulty that started this thread, the difficulty of transferring my
intention out of my mind, into words -- in this case words
in two different languages -- then back into an impression, an image,
an idea in your mind.

-- 

Rachel Silber rachel@ontos.com

Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>