In this exercise, I chose to index meaning by way of topic and grammatical structure as broken down sentence by sentence identifying the subject and topic of each. The reading I chose was Raymond Quenaeu’s Exercises in Style as published by John Calder. I only indexed pages 19-26 which showcase various methods of translating the book into brief essays using different grammatical and structural writing styles. In using this method the reader begins to identify key themes being translated as they are the commonalities among starkly different essays. What stays and what gets altered?
In indexing these separate essays it was interesting to see different patterns emerge. Consistently the subjects and topics remained consistent while the length of their explanation created a range of difficulties in the process of indexing them to simpler terms. Some make sense in their revealed skeletons of structure and some became more confusing, such as the Metaphorical translation. However, with the story being so simple it seems breaking down sentences into two to four isolated words in an index conveys the premise of the story just as well. That being said, this does reveal a duality of both explicit and implicit meaning – showcasing its most basic explicit meaning but when viewed as a whole perhaps reveals implicit meaning and understanding in structure and the methods the author used in writing these essays.
How does this change in medium impact the message? The beauty is certainly lost in this format with its reduction to child-like terms. But perhaps this is a medium to effectively convey a story to younger minds. It does however feel as if the author’s work is being diminished in the way I am ripping it apart / cherrypicking topic and subject. Lost is the overarching message of exploring the full translation of the text across grammatical, perspective, level of embellishment, etc. However, the process of indexing does reveal a study in the author’s creation of these various translations and for a student of language or writing this may be of use in relation to research and exploration.
EXERCISE
Index of Pages 19-26 of Raymond Quenaeu’s Exercises in Style as published by John Calderby. Indexed by Sentence and Respective Subject and Topic
Notation
Sentence 1
Subject – S Bus
Topic- Rush Hour
Sentence 2
Subject – Chap
Topic – Appearance
Sentence 3
Subject – People
Topic – Exiting
Sentence 4
Subject – Chap & Man
Topic – Annoyed
Sentence 5
Subject – Chap & Man
Topic – Accusation of Jostling
Sentence 6
Subject – Tone
Topic – Aggressive
Sentence 7
Subject – Seat
Topic – Vacancy
Sentence 8
Subject – Meeting Place and Time
Topic – Cour de Rome
Sentence 9
Subject – Friend
Topic – Overcoat Button
Sentence 10
Subject – Coat
Topic – Button Location
Double Entry
Sentence 1
Subject – Day Activity
Topic- Getting on a Packed Bus
Sentence 2
Subject – Young Man & Old Adolescent
Topic – Appearance
Sentence 3
Subject – Scrimmage & Shuffle
Topic – Pushy Young Man
Sentence 4
Subject – Previous Accusation
Topic – Rushing into a vacant seat
Sentence 5
Subject – Time and Place
Topic – Re-meeting of the man
Sentence 6
Subject – Man & friend
Topic – Replacement of a button
Litotes
Sentence 1
Subject – Us
Topic- Travelling
Sentence 2
Subject – Young Man
Topic – Speaking to man next to him
Sentence 3
Subject – Later time and place
Topic – Friend and clothing discussion
Metaphorically
Sentence 1
Subject – Sardines and Chicken
Topic- Traveling and Chicken parlance
Sentence 2
Subject – Fledgling
Topic – Precipitation
Sentence 3
Subject – Urban Desert & Chicken
Topic – Drinking Humiliation
Retrograde
Sentence 1
Subject – Button
Topic- Need for a new one
Sentence 2
Subject – Meeting
Topic – Cour de Rome post rush
Sentence 3
Subject – Man
Topic – Protestation of jostling
Sentence 4
Subject – Man
Topic – Ridiculous hat
Sentence 5
Subject – Time and Place
Topic – Full Platform
Surprises
Sentence 1
Subject – Bus platform
Topic- Packed
Sentence 2
Subject – Young man
Topic – Appearance
Sentence 3
Subject – Young man
Topic – Quarreling
Sentence 4
Subject – Young man
Topic – Fop
Sentence 5
Subject – Action
Topic – Pushing
Sentence 6
Subject – Young man
Topic – Aggressive seat grab
Sentence 7
Subject – Lady
Topic – Ignored
Sentence 8
Subject – Later time and place
Topic – re-meeting
Sentence 9
Subject – Fancy Pants
Topic – the same one
Sentence 10
Subject – Advice
Topic – being given sartorially
Sentence 11
Subject – Friend
Topic – Giving Advice
Sentence 12
Subject – Belief
Topic – Unbelievable
BIBLIOGRAPHY
RAYMOND QUENEAU
Exercises in Style
London: John Calder
[1947] 1998
pp. 9–16, 19–26
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