On dreaming and borders | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen
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0:17 - 0:21[Maja Zawierzeniec:
"On Dreaming and Borders"] -
0:25 - 0:27Leonora is not a poet,
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0:28 - 0:30she's a walking poem,
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0:30 - 0:33which all of a sudden opens an umbrella,
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0:33 - 0:36which unexpectedly becomes a bird,
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0:36 - 0:39that afterwards turns into a fish
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0:39 - 0:40and disappears."
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0:41 - 0:44This is how Leonora Carrington,
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0:44 - 0:47a Mexican artist of British origin,
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0:47 - 0:50was described by one of her friends.
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0:51 - 0:54Leonora lived at the border
between different worlds: -
0:54 - 0:58cultural, linguistic and mental.
-
0:58 - 1:01This is what I want to talk about today.
-
1:02 - 1:03About borders,
-
1:03 - 1:05borders and dreams,
-
1:05 - 1:09dreams at the border
and borders of dreams. -
1:11 - 1:15Over the last several years,
-
1:15 - 1:17I visited the United Mexican States
-
1:17 - 1:19more than ten times.
-
1:19 - 1:25Since the year 2001,
when my first visit took place, -
1:25 - 1:29Mexico came to be my mental homeland.
-
1:29 - 1:33I feel very well there
and perceive some kind of magic, -
1:33 - 1:37which I'm not able to feel in Europe,
no matter how beautiful it is. -
1:38 - 1:41Additionally, due to my work,
-
1:42 - 1:45and because of my personality,
-
1:45 - 1:49I also feel myself on the border
among different worlds: -
1:49 - 1:52academic, student,
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1:52 - 1:54formal, informal,
-
1:54 - 1:57business and cultural.
-
1:58 - 2:02Borders are usually associated
with something negative -
2:02 - 2:05with being on the verge
of something stressful and dangerous. -
2:06 - 2:09But borders also imply something else:
-
2:09 - 2:12When we are at the edge of some space,
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2:12 - 2:17we can "jump" to another one
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2:17 - 2:19and get to know new territories.
-
2:20 - 2:23When we are standing steadily
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2:23 - 2:25on whichever space,
-
2:25 - 2:29it's difficult to "jump" to the new one.
-
2:33 - 2:38I also think that the ability
to cross borders -
2:38 - 2:43is even more useful in the private life
than in the professional one, -
2:43 - 2:46as it lets us look
-
2:46 - 2:48at some situations
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2:48 - 2:49from different points of view
-
2:50 - 2:55and feel less fear,
-
2:55 - 2:59when we are stepping out
of our comfort zone. -
3:01 - 3:05Approaching the border
helps us to change the perspective. -
3:07 - 3:09There may be a lot of borders:
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3:09 - 3:13physical, linguistic,
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3:13 - 3:17cultural, intellectual;
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3:17 - 3:19we can also have mental borders.
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3:19 - 3:23And it is about these borders,
in the Mexican context, -
3:23 - 3:25that I'd like to talk about.
-
3:28 - 3:31When we think about Mexico
and the border, -
3:31 - 3:34we automatically imagine the borderline
-
3:34 - 3:38between Mexico and the United States,
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3:38 - 3:41the area portrayed in the media
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3:41 - 3:46as dangerous, destructive, full of violence.
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3:48 - 3:52However, this border has another side:
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3:53 - 3:56it is a place of a rich cultural
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3:56 - 3:58and social exchange.
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3:58 - 4:01A place of social symbiosis:
-
4:01 - 4:04there are a lot of people and families,
-
4:04 - 4:08who cross and enrich
this border every single day. -
4:09 - 4:12Also, a lot of Mexicans living in Poland,
-
4:12 - 4:14or Polish people visiting Mexico,
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4:14 - 4:18have told me that in spite of
a large geographical distance -
4:18 - 4:21between our countries,
-
4:21 - 4:24we have a lot of common mental features.
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4:26 - 4:29It teaches us that physical borders
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4:29 - 4:31may be illusory.
-
4:34 - 4:37If we talk about
linguistic and cultural borders, -
4:37 - 4:41we intuitively feel
that every new language -
4:41 - 4:44is a key to unlock a new culture.
-
4:45 - 4:48But I think that a language is much more:
-
4:49 - 4:51it enables us to create reality,
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4:51 - 4:54and shape the world around us.
-
4:55 - 4:59I would like to illustrate this
with the example of Malinche. -
5:00 - 5:04Malinche, or Doña Marina,
-
5:04 - 5:08was a companion and translator
of Hernán Cortés, -
5:08 - 5:11who conquered Mexico in the 16th century.
-
5:11 - 5:15As a very young girl
she was sold to the Maya people -
5:15 - 5:19by her mother, after her father's death.
-
5:19 - 5:22She herself came from the Nahua tribe.
-
5:22 - 5:26This way she learnt another
important Mexican language. -
5:27 - 5:29She was among several captive women
-
5:29 - 5:32given as a present to Cortés,
-
5:32 - 5:35arriving at the Mexican coast.
-
5:35 - 5:38From the first official
translator of Hernán Cortés -
5:38 - 5:41she learnt Spanish.
-
5:42 - 5:46Malinche is seen
as a controversial figure in Mexico, -
5:46 - 5:50because sometimes she is thought of
as a traitor to the nation. -
5:50 - 5:54In my view, taking into account
the social and the historical context -
5:54 - 5:56she was compelled to live in,
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5:56 - 5:59this statement is not necessarily true.
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5:59 - 6:01Furthermore, we could assume
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6:01 - 6:04that her mediation was the reason that
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6:04 - 6:08the conquest of Mexico was less bloody.
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6:09 - 6:11This way the figure of Malinche,
-
6:12 - 6:14a woman who lived in the 16th century,
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6:14 - 6:19teaches us that a language is not only
"a door to another culture," -
6:19 - 6:22but also a means to shape the reality,
-
6:22 - 6:25and therefore participate more actively
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6:25 - 6:27in the social life.
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6:29 - 6:31If we talk about intellectual borders,
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6:31 - 6:34let's take an example
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6:34 - 6:36of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.
-
6:36 - 6:41Sor Juana Inés was
a Mexican Baroque poet. -
6:43 - 6:46She became a nun, since monastic life
-
6:46 - 6:49a bit more easily than other social contexts
-
6:49 - 6:51in the 16th century Mexico,
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6:51 - 6:54allowed a woman to study.
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6:54 - 6:56And Sor Juana was a "child prodigy."
-
6:56 - 7:00Since her early years, she put
a lot of effort in understanding, -
7:00 - 7:03learning and personal development.
-
7:05 - 7:07Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz
is famous for saying -
7:07 - 7:11that we can learn in every situation.
-
7:11 - 7:15She also authors
another celebrated statement: -
7:15 - 7:19"Had Aristotle cooked,
he would have written a great deal more." -
7:20 - 7:22This figure teaches us
-
7:22 - 7:26that intellectual borders
also can be surpassed. -
7:28 - 7:31This is how we approached the last border,
probably the most difficult: -
7:31 - 7:33the mental, psychological border.
-
7:33 - 7:37Here our guide will be
Rosario Castellanos, -
7:37 - 7:39a Mexican writer
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7:39 - 7:44concerned with the topic of native people.
-
7:44 - 7:48She was also a member of
the Mexican diplomatic corps, -
7:48 - 7:51and an ambassador in Israel.
-
7:52 - 7:57In her play "The Eternal Feminine"
-
7:57 - 8:01a peddler visits a Mexican beauty salon
-
8:01 - 8:05regularly offering technical novelties
to the owner. -
8:06 - 8:10This time he brings a special device
for a hair dryer, -
8:11 - 8:13a big one, of the old sort.
-
8:15 - 8:16What is this invention meant for?
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8:16 - 8:19For occupying the heads,
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8:19 - 8:20literally and metaphorically,
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8:20 - 8:23of the clients.
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8:23 - 8:28Some of them go there
several times a week. -
8:28 - 8:32With their heads under the dryer
they get bored, -
8:32 - 8:33and boredom, as is well known,
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8:33 - 8:36can lead to a socially dangerous activity:
-
8:36 - 8:38thinking.
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8:40 - 8:43This new, wonderful invention is tested
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8:43 - 8:45on an ideal client:
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8:45 - 8:47a naive young girl,
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8:47 - 8:51full of hope, about to get married.
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8:51 - 8:53In this Mexican beauty salon
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8:53 - 8:56she dreams a socially correct dream,
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8:57 - 9:00in which she turns from
a young, energetic person -
9:00 - 9:04into a frustrated,
-
9:04 - 9:06sad housewife.
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9:08 - 9:11Rosario Castellanos' play
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9:11 - 9:14shows us that we can
go beyond the mental borders. -
9:14 - 9:17And the irony helps us disarm
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9:17 - 9:20the negative social schemes,
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9:20 - 9:23which we often grow up with.
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9:26 - 9:28Cultural, linguistic,
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9:28 - 9:31mental borders
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9:31 - 9:35were experienced by three Mexican,
not completely Mexican women, -
9:36 - 9:41three surrealist painters
of European origin, -
9:41 - 9:44who created their works in Mexico:
-
9:44 - 9:49Alice Rahon, Remedios Varo
and Leonora Carrington. -
9:51 - 9:53Alice Rahon, in her paintings,
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9:53 - 9:57mixes the French surrealism
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9:57 - 9:59with the color of the Mexican soil.
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9:59 - 10:03She portrays herself
as Alice in Wonderland, -
10:04 - 10:09a literary character
drifting between worlds. -
10:10 - 10:14In her works, she also
pays tribute to Frida Kahlo. -
10:14 - 10:16This second painting represents
-
10:16 - 10:20her vision of the Mexican world.
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10:26 - 10:31Towards the knowledge, and the unknown
is where Remedios Varo, -
10:31 - 10:33of Spanish origin, drifts as well.
-
10:34 - 10:38Her painting "Exploration of the Sources
of the Orinoco River" -
10:38 - 10:42portrays a young woman in a small boat,
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10:42 - 10:44sailing to the unknown.
-
10:45 - 10:48We can tell that Remedios Varo herself
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10:48 - 10:51was aware of living, being
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10:51 - 10:53on the verge of two different worlds,
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10:53 - 10:57which can be verified
in her self-portrait: -
10:57 - 10:59on one side we can see her face,
-
10:59 - 11:03the connection with the real world,
-
11:04 - 11:06on other side there is a mask,
-
11:07 - 11:11symbolizing the belonging
to the surrealistic world, -
11:11 - 11:13to a different world.
-
11:18 - 11:21And the last, yet very interesting figure:
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11:21 - 11:23Leonora Carrington, of British origin,
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11:23 - 11:27to whom the first quotation referred.
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11:29 - 11:33Leonora Carrington died only two years ago,
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11:33 - 11:37at the age of 94 in Mexico City.
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11:37 - 11:39Her paintings show
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11:39 - 11:42the connection with the world of magic,
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11:42 - 11:46the world of animals,
the world of intuition. -
11:54 - 11:55I'm the President
-
11:55 - 11:58of the Polish-Mexican Cultural Association
-
11:58 - 12:00Bocian&Nopal.
-
12:01 - 12:06The projects we carry out are meant to
familiarize Polish people with Mexico, -
12:06 - 12:08and convey certain ideas,
-
12:08 - 12:12that we can learn
from the Mexicans in general -
12:12 - 12:14and the Mexican women
I mentioned. -
12:14 - 12:18That language is the key
to unlock other cultures, -
12:18 - 12:20that can shape and change the reality.
-
12:20 - 12:24That we can go
beyond intellectual borders, -
12:24 - 12:27and that, in fact, we are the ones
who limit ourselves. -
12:27 - 12:30That mental borders and social "devices"
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12:30 - 12:34put by the society
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12:34 - 12:37into our personal "hair dryers"
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12:37 - 12:40can be disarmed with irony.
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12:42 - 12:46In everyday life, when we say
that something is surrealistic, -
12:46 - 12:51we think that it is unreal,
and hard to accomplish. -
12:53 - 12:57But maybe freedom and crossing borders
-
12:57 - 12:59can actually take place
-
12:59 - 13:01if we feel more at ease,
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13:01 - 13:04if nothing is limiting us.
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13:05 - 13:08It happens when we sleep and dream.
-
13:10 - 13:12Lawrence of Arabia once said
-
13:12 - 13:15that all the people dream,
but not in the same way. -
13:17 - 13:21Most of the people dream by night.
-
13:21 - 13:25They wake up and see
that their dream is gone. -
13:27 - 13:30But he said that there are
also these dangerous people, -
13:30 - 13:33who may act their dreams
with open eyes -
13:33 - 13:35in the daylight
-
13:35 - 13:38to make them possible.
-
13:40 - 13:42Life is a dream,
so let us dream consciously. -
13:42 - 13:44Thank you.
-
13:44 - 13:47(Applause)
- Title:
- On dreaming and borders | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen
- Description:
-
This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences.
Maja Zawierzeniec talks about life at the border among different cultures and languages, as well as about crossing social and mental borders providing examples of Mexican prominent female figures.
University lecturer, specialized in the field of Mexican studies, at present Maja is concerned with the creative capital of Mexico and the correlation between violence and modern Mexican art. Since 2009, she organizes meetings of young Mexican artists México Joven all around the world. And is also interested professionally in the cultural-business relationship between China and Latin America, new technology in education, methods of foreign language teaching, and quality management in higher education.
- Video Language:
- Polish
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 14:09
Kinga Skorupska edited English subtitles for Sen na granicy | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen | ||
Kinga Skorupska approved English subtitles for Sen na granicy | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen | ||
Kinga Skorupska edited English subtitles for Sen na granicy | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen | ||
Kinga Skorupska edited English subtitles for Sen na granicy | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen | ||
Kinga Skorupska edited English subtitles for Sen na granicy | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen | ||
Kinga Skorupska edited English subtitles for Sen na granicy | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen | ||
Kinga Skorupska edited English subtitles for Sen na granicy | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen | ||
Sebastian Betti accepted English subtitles for Sen na granicy | Maja Zawierzeniec | TEDxWarsawWomen |