FWIW, the MS thesaurus tells me that "protagonist" has "hero" as a synonym. We on the left have long talked about the heroism of working people. (Of course, in the 1992 silly sci-fi cyberpunk novel _Snow Crash_ by Neal Stephenson, the hero is named Hiro Protagonist.
On 3/17/07, michael a. lebowitz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
At 14:08 17/03/2007, you wrote: >I don't think this has shown up on pen-l yet. It's very good. I >especially like the word "protagonistic." I can't remember if that appeared (even if I posted it myself!); clearly losing it. I like the word, too, though, and think we must make it common sense. Here's what I wrote the other day to the Norwegian translator of 'Build it Now', who asked about that very word: > To answer your question about 'protagonistic', the same > point comes up in English--- there is no standard translation for > the word used in Spanish (and central to the conception of the > Bolivarian Constitution and the Bolivarian Revolution). The concept > comes from protagonist, protagonism--- the idea not merely of > 'participating' but of being a 'subject', a subject of change. > There is no such word, I kept being told, by my English editors. > Very well, I replied,--- we will MAKE it a word. Language is > political (like everything else), and stressing the centrality of > protagonistic activity (and 'solidaristic' activity and > institutions--- another word we need to make common sense) is a > political act. So, I hope that I have encouraged you to create a > good counterpart in Norwegian, and maybe you can make this very > point in a translator's note.
-- Jim Devine / "The truth is more important than the facts." -- Frank Lloyd Wright
