Language Essay Contest Winners Series: Exploring Why Maxine Gemeinhardt Learns Languages

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Last fall, undergraduate students were invited to submit short essays on the theme: Why Do I Learn Languages? This contest provided students with the chance to share their personal experiences with multilingualism and language learning. An interdisciplinary faculty committee reviewed the submissions, and the winning essays are featured below, accompanied by reflections on each student's relationship to the essay writing process and language.

We had the privilege of speaking with Maxine Gemeinhardt, a fourth-year Linguistics major and one of the contest winners. Her essay, titled On Translating the Past for the Present, delves into the significance of ancient translations and their relevance today.

Evolving Voices

Gemeinhardt’s work focuses on how translation evolves over time. She explained, “the thing about translation is that new translations of old works are coming out all the time. It's because a translator is always making personal decisions about how to translate the text. And those personal decisions really depend on who they are as a person. The very first translations that we got of this stuff were old, white, British academics who were looking at it in a very specific way. Now that we have so many more diverse groups of people in the field, it's a way to offer new perspectives on things that we already have”.

Her personal connection to the art of translation is also profound. In her essay, she reflects on the experience of connecting to ancient texts. “When you're translating an ancient language, it feels very different than when you're doing something like in the modern day because something that is still in use. Translating something that has already been written, and was written 2000 years ago. It's a different experience, and I feel like it’s more introspective; the experience of translating something that was written that long ago”. 

Bringing the Ancient to Life Through Community and Translation

Gemeinhardt’s translations allow her to forge meaningful connections with ancient language, making them relevant to the present. As she describes, the process is not only about the text, but also about the community of scholars involved. “It’s a pretty tight knit community and you get to know people there really well. Usually you're all translating together in a small group, so it's kind of a communal experience”. She emphasizes that her essay aims to reflect this sense of collaboration.

Looking ahead, Gemeinhardt hopes that the sense of community in ancient translation continues to grow. “We need to showcase it a little bit better,” she says. Who wouldn’t want to be part of such a powerful and supportive team? Maxine’s work offers valuable insight into the importance of ancient translation, and her essay is shared below.

Gratulationes, Maxine!

On Translating The Past, For The Present 

Max Gemeinhardt 

I find myself inexorably drawn back to the translation of Ancient Greek. The shape of the characters, the unique sounds, and the subtle freedoms it affords continue to draw my attention and love, even after years of study. In translating, we peel back the mysteries of the past and illuminate those of the present. Behind this cipher are messages from people who never thought their words would outlive them by so long. We grant them some small immortality. 

The benefit of their words is clear. If we can understand how these people interacted, how their societies functioned and failed, how they thought about life and themselves, then we can apply those same concepts to the modern world, with our own values guiding their implementation. The secrets gleaned therein can produce boundless material and spiritual benefit. Ancient inventions unearthed, building techniques lost to time rediscovered, new ways of governing and schools of philosophy adopted- translation is the first and central step that leads to all of these benefits. 

It’s our responsibility to try our utmost to bestow these blessings on society. In learning the tongues of the past, we learn about ourselves. In learning about ourselves, we improve the world.