“Language is unstable. It’s just a fiction”. In her new work, Apologia, writer and performer Nicola Gunn is taking on the barriers language puts between us.
When Nicola Gunn was a teenager, she picked up three different copies of Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov’sin a bookstore to work out which cover she liked. Then she looked at the first page of each, and her understanding of language changed forever.
“When I was younger I had this romantic idea of Frenchness,” says Gunn. “That it was the epitome of sophistication, elegance and philosophical intellectualism. It’s the romanticisation and the mythology of it that interests me. We all do it, whether it’s people who have a thing for Japan or somewhere else. France is really a placeholder for anyone wanting to feel different. If I feel French, will I be different?”is a wide-ranging and irreverent conversation.
Gunn’s theatre work often plays with complex questions of making art and communicating. Previous shows have focused on the pretentious world of high-art academia, and the creative issues arising from bringing children into creative practice. Now she’s taking on the barriers language puts between us.Living in Norway, Gunn is constantly aware of these barriers. She’s monolingual, though she’s attempting to learn Norwegian.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
French election results 2024: Markets on tenterhooks as French politicians jostle for powerFrance’s left-wing parties are scrambling for a way to break the political impasse created by President Emmanuel Macron’s snap parliamentary election.
Read more »
‘I felt my tongue coming alive’: Learning a critically endangered Indigenous language is a small triumphI know I don’t have it right yet. I know my grammar is rudimentary. But I am speaking, writing and thinking in Kooma nearly every day
Read more »
Nationalist campaigner for the Ukrainian language is shot dead in LvivIryna Farion, 60, a former MP known for her opposition to officials speaking in Russian, was attacked on the street
Read more »
‘If people are upset, we’re doing something right’: the artists subverting the language of adsCollectives such as Pattern Up use the visual signifiers of well-known brands to deliver satirical statements. ‘It’s something everyone can relate to – which is dark,’ they say
Read more »
MrBeast acknowledges 'inappropriate language' in past videosAs numerous controversies bubble up around him and a former collaborator.
Read more »
AI LLMs: Why Australia needs its own AI large language modelIf we are to retain our economic and cultural sovereignty, Australia needs to develop AI that reflects Australian values.
Read more »