Whodunnit?
February 12, 2010 9:21 AM   Subscribe

What language is this, and what is the translation of the part with my name on it? And who is the artist?

I once posted something on usenet, back in the day, about the definition of magical realism, and it got taken up by teachers and students for some reason. It's even been translated, apparently, but I have no idea what the language is or what it means in translation.

I don't wish to use my real name on AskMe, but it's kind of obvious as it is beside the picture with the frogs sitting around a table, beneath the unicycling bear. I also totally stole my MeFi profile picture from there because it's a mouse playing a guitar near as I can tell, which kinda fits. A name for artist would also be awesome so I can find some more of their stuff, because I like it. A lot.
posted by Sparx to Writing & Language (13 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: Looks like Icelandic.
posted by gimonca at 9:24 AM on February 12, 2010


Icelandic, I'd wager, given the TLD.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:24 AM on February 12, 2010


I think it might be Icelandic. Or, what others said.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:25 AM on February 12, 2010


Another vote for Icelandic. The "velkomin" definitely puts it in the germanic/scandinavic region.
posted by sbutler at 9:28 AM on February 12, 2010


Response by poster: Icelandic it is - and thanks for the translator, Burhanistan - that sealed the deal, as it were, though I have no idea how or why it got translated in the first place!

Any idea of the artist at all?
posted by Sparx at 9:32 AM on February 12, 2010


Response by poster: And, just asking so I can learn,does the Icelandic language have a name other than Icelandic?
posted by Sparx at 9:35 AM on February 12, 2010


Best answer: According to Wikipedia, it's called íslenska in Icelandic.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:37 AM on February 12, 2010


Response by poster: Thank you, Admiral Haddock!

Now if only I could identify the artist I would be a happy egoboo geek
posted by Sparx at 9:41 AM on February 12, 2010


Response by poster: Thank you, Burhanistan, you have absolutely made my day! There is so much good stuff to see in that link!

Muchly appreciated!
posted by Sparx at 9:48 AM on February 12, 2010


Response by poster: Of course, now I know the language, and have seen it machine translated, and know who did the illustrations which were probably borrowed without permission....it's still kinda awsome that the something I wrote on usenet go translated into Islenska

Thanks to you all for helping me figure this out!
posted by Sparx at 9:53 AM on February 12, 2010


From the machine translation: The reality is that in Magic Realism is similar to our own reality with the addition of magical elements. No dragons, unicode, witch, talking animals, etc.. It is this issue which makes magical realism from fantasy. . . .

Sparx, I think it is a poor world of magical realism you have defined that has no Unicode in it.
posted by The Bellman at 11:26 AM on February 12, 2010


Just for future reference, google translate is actually pretty decent. It has an autodetect language feature, which immediately translated the text I picked into English. Apparently magical realism is something else Iceland and Columbia have in common.
posted by Bobicus at 12:39 PM on February 12, 2010


Response by poster: The images that appear on the page are owned by Chris Miles and are published with his permission

I stand corrected, thanks Burhanistan. O brave new world, That has such people in't!
posted by Sparx at 3:27 AM on February 19, 2010


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