Kemp, Penny

English

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Atlantis Vol. 9 No. 1 Fall/Automne 1983 132-134 Notes on the Women and Words Conference University of British Columbia, June 30-July 3, 1983 Penny Kemp Orangeville, Ontario What a treat Women and Words was as a conference! C o m i n g back to routine, kids, weeds and heat waves, I 'm st i l l r i d i n g h i g h from it, excited about getting back to w r i t i n g after such corroboration. T h e h i g h point of the conference for me was the presence of Quebecoises, writers I'd never met nor heard nor, I 'm ashamed to admit, read. What a grand exchange—and given that impetus, by the third day I was speaking/ understanding French again. T h e dominant metaphor of the conference was that of transla-tion, comme femmes nous sommes toutes traduc-trices. L a conference etait tres importante pour faire la l ia ison entre les ecrivaines quebevoises et les femmes q u i ecrivent en anglais. Avant, j ' a i cru que c'etait tres difficile pour une Anglaise d'entrer dans le monde litteraire quebecois. L a barriere, je pensais, etait la question de souverainete. Mais quand j ' a i recontre les ecrivaines francaises a la conference, j ' a i trouve que la condition feminine etait plus importante que la condition poli t ique. L a communante est plus possible depuis le parti quebecois. J ' a i trouve que nos interets etaient communs; ceux de la langue, de recreer la langue des femmes pour exprimer notre condit ion, notre sensibilite. Et pour ca, i l faut changer la langue, notre idee de la langue, comme ont fait les ecrivaines quebecoises. Comme poetesse du son, j 'a ime bien m'exprimer en sons q u i trans-cendent le langage ordinaire. L a langue de femmes a ete celle du silence. El le se trouve dans u n monde masculin et parle u n langage masculin. Les ecrivaines quebecoises sont eloquentes a recreer ce language. Elles ont fait beaucoup de travail important, et c'est mer-veilleux de faire la connaisance de leurs oeuvres. Toutes les femmes sont traductrices parce q u ' i l le faut pourexister, survivre. C'est la condi-tion feminine. Cette conference etait si impor-tante et excitante parce qu'elle a rendu possibles les relations personnelles entre les ecrivaines du Canada. U n discours a ete commence q u i doit continuer, parce q u ' i l peut changer notre ecriture. I was particularly grateful to the many compe-tent translators present, some of w h o m were excellent writers and critics i n their own right. T h r o u g h their panels on feminist criticism, the wri t ing of the Quebecoises became accessible and of immediate importance to everyone pres-ent. A l l our books come from the stance of a woman wri t ing , necessarily, i n consciousness and often i n theme. A new k ind of review that includes that stance and looks at the language informing the wri t ing becomes paramount. O n a l l levels, the conference was given over to an open discussion of language and how lan-guage affects women's wri t ing, of how we can recreate i n language our experience by letting the wri t ing itself lead the writer. Panels looked at criticism, images of women i n the media, alter-native publ i sh ing and theatre, and many more different aspects of society as they applied to women wr i t ing . H o w to take effective action was the keynote, as witnessed i n the lively discus-sions i n every workshop and panel I attended. T h e friendly atmosphere of the conference must be attributed to the care and generosity of the organizers. Betsy Warland seemed marvel-lous at empowering volunteers, enlist ing their total support, so that the conference became, as it was intended, everyone's who participated. I'd wondered at first why men were not allowed, but was grateful as it turned out, for the experience of attending an a l l -woman conference, attend-i n g and listening without the usual defence of wit or wariness that I have come to f ind necessary at conferences i n order to combat the oppressive sense of hierarchy and behind the scenes poli t ic-i n g . Here women spoke to each other i n a spirit of equality and a willingness to share, to shed o l d patterns of thought. It seems necessary to f ind forms and structure to reflect that exchange, not only i n language itself but i n format. T h a t probably means more workshops than panels. By having four or five experts, be they male or female, each expound for ten minutes and there was never enough time for a l l the discussion that ensued from the floor. T h e panel structure of necessity duplicated the authoritarian mode, setting panelists apart from audience: the patriarchal mode w h i c h the panel-ists themselves were speaking against. The i r goodwi l l , expertise and that of participants speaking from the f loor helped to break d o w n the div is ion . But it w o u l d have been easier if we had w o r k i n g models of alternative formats: smaller circles that reach consensus wi th in and then present their ideas. If we had done this at the end of each day of the conference, the plenary session w o u l d have already had a strong sense of direction before it began. O u r energies could have been more effectively directed to imple-m e n t i n g suggestions that already had been worked through to clear, practical guidelines. Next time. As it was, the spinoffs of new con-fidence i n one's direction and ability to articu-late what had hitherto been silent or repressed, w i l l carry many of us w h o attended the confer-ence back to our separate w r i t i n g tables wi th a renewed committment. W i t h such strength be-h i n d us, we can no longer consider our wri t ing i n isolation. We can trust i n our experiments wi th wri t ing , and dare to write from the less explored spaces of silence. I look forward to the forthcoming transcription of the conference pro-ceedings and to the Women and Words anthol-ogy. A n d I intend to be at the next conference! Simultaneous Translation J'ai essaye et J S A A A J S A A A J S A A je ne suis pas capable / j'ai pens£ tous les fois je ne suis pas capable / j'ai pense toutes les folles jeune suivra capable jay pense toutes les folles gene suivra cap pablum jay pense toutes les folles gene sweep pa cap pablum jay pansy toutes les folles june sweep pa cap pablum jay pansy toot les folles june sweep pa cap pablum jay pansy toot lay falls tant m'echappe mais j'embarque taunt m'echappe mais j'embarque taunt may chap may j'am barque taunt may chap may jam bark car nous sommes toutes traductrices car nous sommes toutes traductrices car new sommes toutes traductrices car new some toutes traductrices car new some toot traductrices car new sum toot trad duke trees car new sum too trad ostrich dans un silence qui ne sail pas s'exprimer au langage masculin dance un silence qui ne sait pas s'exprimer au langage masculin dance on sillence qui ne sait pas s'exprimer au langage masculin dance on sill once qui ne sait pas s'exprimer au langage masculin dance on sill once key ne sait pas s'exprimer au langage masculin dance on sill once keen say pas s'exprimer au langage masculin dance on sill once keen say pas s'exprimer au langage mask you lent dance on sill once keen say pa s'exprimer au langage mask you lent dance on sill once keen say pa sez primer au langage mask you lent dance on sill once keen say pa sez primer oh langage mask you lent dance on sill once keen say pa sez primer oh long age mask you lent dance on sill once keen say pa sez preen eh oh long age mask you lent essay on essayons Women and Words June 1983 

Notes on the Women and Words Conference University of British Columbia, June 30-July 3, 1983

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Notes on the Women and Words Conference University of British Columbia, June 30-July 3, 1983

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