Tip of the Tongue E-Book

Peter Brook

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

A thoughtful and deeply personal book by master theatre-maker Peter Brook, described by the Independent as 'our greatest living theatre director'. In Tip of the Tongue, Peter Brook takes a charming, playful and wise look at topics such as the subtle, telling differences between French and English, and the many levels on which we can appreciate the works of Shakespeare. Brook also revisits his seminal concept of the 'empty space', considering how theatre – and the world – have changed over the span of his long and distinguished career. Threaded throughout with intimate and revealing stories from Brook's own life, Tip of the Tongue is a short but sparkling gift from one of the greatest artists of our time.

Leseprobe

Peter Brook

TIP OF THE TONGUE

Reflections on Language and Meaning

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

To all those who over the years have stimulated the questioning and the experiences I describe.

This cannot be dedicated to one person—to you all with gratitude.

Contents

Prologue

Part One

Words Words Words

Tip of the Tongue

Sea Bells

Take My Word for It

Part Two

Dawn to Dusk

Formless Hunch

When is a Space Not a Space?

Part Three

Skyscraper

The Mirror

About the Author

Copyright Information

Prologue



A long time ago when I was very young, a voice hidden deep within me whispered, ‘Don’t take anything for granted. Go and see for yourself.’ This little nagging murmur has led me to so many journeys, so many explorations, trying to live together multiple lives, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Always the need has been to stay in the concrete, the practical, the everyday, so as to find hints of the invisible through the visible. The infinite levels in Shakespeare, for instance, make his works a skyscraper.

But what are levels, what is quality? What is shallow, what is deep? What changes, what always stays still?

This can now lead us together through many forms, at many times, in many places. To begin with, what is a word?

If we say to a child, ‘Be good’, the word ‘good’ has its everyday commonplace meaning. If we rise above the ground level, the word ‘good’ brings us to finer and finer shades of goodness. Even more so in French—‘Soyez sage’, the parents say to their children, using ‘sage’, a word for wisdom. There are so many words that contain such promises. A ‘divine’ evening. ‘Divine’ belongs to the sky. To use ‘divine’ casually makes the ‘sacred’ lose all its meaning.

In the pages that follow, we will explore together the sometimes comic and often subtle differences between two languages that have lived together for so long—French and English.

With William the Conqueror, the Latin-based language penetrated into English and vastly enriched its vocabulary. For us, the Norman invasion was a blessing. On the other hand, the Anglo-Saxon idiom seemingly never penetrated beyond Agincourt. Thanks to this, French, with a much smaller vocabulary, became a vehicle for pure and crystal-clear thought. I must, however, warn the reader that all comments on the French language in this book come necessarily from an Anglo-Saxon point of view.

After nearly half a century of living in France, when I ask for something, clearly, in a shop, the person serving me winces and immediately answers me in English. Either it is fear of not understanding the foreigner or else the pain of hearing their fine language mangled, its precise rules ignored. This has been a starting point for relishing the difference between two languages which are like chalk and cheese.

Over the years, I have wondered what is the mysterious relationship between a word and its real meaning. Words are often a necessity. Words, like chairs and tables, are necessary tools for navigating the everyday world. But it is all too easy to let the word itself take first place. The essence is meaning. Silence already has a meaning, meaning that is searching to be recognised through a world of changing forms and sounds.