News Archive
Living Abroad, or, Emotion in the Mother Tongue
Living Abroad, or, Emotion in the Mother Tongue
West Wing 9
When living far away from our homeland, some words provoke strong emotions of nostalgia, affection or closeness. Using psychological, philosophical and semantic concepts, this talk will focus on maternal language as and when spoken from abroad. Inspired by the project, "Our Language Garden", a collaborative radio project (Radio UNAM and BBC Sheffield) in which a series of Mexican and British guests brought one word and a personal story linked to that word, the objective of the talk is to reflect on the emotional quality of words in the native tongue when living abroad, and also to reveal the possibilities of their use through technologies like "skype". With a particular interest in exploring notions of home and distance, the talk will assess the way in which certain words trigger strong feelings of belonging, closing the emotional gap between the person abroad and their homeland. Helen Blejerman will reveal statistics, ask the audience questions and perhaps, if memory permits, tell stories.
Helen Blejerman was born in Mexico City, and at present is based in the UK. With a degree in advertising and a masters degree in art, Helen has worked in locations such as Botswana in Africa and currently works in Sheffield (UK) as well as in Mexico City. After exhibiting art projects nationally and internationally, Blejerman moved into writing and devising projects that became radio shows (for Radio Sheffield Live 93.2 fm and Radio UNAM 96.1 fm). She has broadcast shows such as “Deciphering the City”, “El Proyecto Calavera” (The Skull Project) and “Our Language Garden”. Helen is a frequent guest on BBC Radio Sheffield.