adrienmundi (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
adrienmundi) wrote2002-04-02 11:45 pm
adrienmundi) wrote2002-04-02 11:45 pm
"Kennen" and "Wissen"
[clever subtitle: Hunger]
Definitions first:
kennen: know, be acquainted with (often used with a person)
wissen: know, have knowledge of (as in, to know as a fact)
I feel the necessity to explain my "critical perspective", such as it is here. Though probably not a surprise, I (over)privelege the intellect, particularly in my interactions with others. It is my primary means of contact.
It is my impression that the majority of others come into contact with one another through the lens of "kennen"; they become acquianted. This seems largely... passive? Not quite, but
there seems a polite patience, a sort of social contract of waiting.
I have encountered a few who seem to very much want to know/"wissen"-like, others. There is a palpable hunger to absorb all knowledge of another, not to devour (though I have experienced that occasionally), but to *know*, to enter in through the mind, the skin, words, etc., and discover another from the inside out. I don't believe this is possible, really, but I doubt it stops those compelled to try; it doesn't stop my efforts.
I find this hunger for impossible fact-knowledge very appealing. Not necessary, but certainly something to which I respond, favorably.
I have lost my focus. Hopefully sense will flow at another time.
Definitions first:
kennen: know, be acquainted with (often used with a person)
wissen: know, have knowledge of (as in, to know as a fact)
I feel the necessity to explain my "critical perspective", such as it is here. Though probably not a surprise, I (over)privelege the intellect, particularly in my interactions with others. It is my primary means of contact.
It is my impression that the majority of others come into contact with one another through the lens of "kennen"; they become acquianted. This seems largely... passive? Not quite, but
there seems a polite patience, a sort of social contract of waiting.
I have encountered a few who seem to very much want to know/"wissen"-like, others. There is a palpable hunger to absorb all knowledge of another, not to devour (though I have experienced that occasionally), but to *know*, to enter in through the mind, the skin, words, etc., and discover another from the inside out. I don't believe this is possible, really, but I doubt it stops those compelled to try; it doesn't stop my efforts.
I find this hunger for impossible fact-knowledge very appealing. Not necessary, but certainly something to which I respond, favorably.
I have lost my focus. Hopefully sense will flow at another time.
no subject
connaître vs. savoir
English lacks certain nuances in its vocabulary, no?
no subject
I had assumed, but now I know. Perhaps my struggle with language in general is really a struggle with the lack of subtleties and nuances of English. I have this compelling urge to run off and learn French now.
no subject
I wish I knew more about linguistics/semantics across cultures and time. From I think I know, though, I don't think that philosophical/deeply intellectual expression has ever been a strong point of English.
Gaelic really creates poetry in every sentence. I'd really love to learn it some day.
Other french trivia that I learned on Monday: graveur, the word for an artist who does engravings, has also become the term (or at least a term) for cd burner. :-)
no subject
That should read,
"From what I think I know, though, ..."
no subject
Hmm... I'm not sure I'd necessarily go along with that, but I will grant that it was his primary language to implement and express those thoughts. From a purely aesthetic level, I just think it looks and sounds pretty. Too, those that I know who use it make me think it's a necessarily more poetic and flowing language. Part of the reason I pursued German as long as I did was because I learned it from Austrians, who infected it with a lot of French.
Mon graveur est rapide... (all hail altavista translations)
no subject
Language is very much tied in with how a culture has historically categorized and classified things, people, and ideas. Not that this cannot be transcended...
J'aime le langue français. But I am at a pitiful level, having forgotten most of what I learned in college. If you actually decide to study the language and want a study partner, let me know... I need some form of external discipline to keep me studying on a regular basis.
no subject
I'm looking into Alliance Francais for instruction for the Romantically challenged for the summer; maybe you'll be the lucky recipient of my kindergarten level fumblings (Mon crayon est gran! (thanks to "Gotcha", one of the few sentences I can say in French, also notable for the first onscreen credit for Linda Fiorentino) )