#letters from soldiers

[fenixthreads]

Watch "Manifesta 10.Public Program. (eng) “Critique of the Social Sciences” Seminar. DIALOGUE #1" on YouTube

"Making Love in Wartime" - Conference on Political Violence and Militant Aesthetics. St. Petersburg, 2014.

[doingbad]

The thing is, you read the stories written by Dr Watson and you think “this is the most down bad a narrator has ever been” and then you get to the stories written by Sherlock Holmes from his perspective and he’s somehow worse.

[karfild]

Ao3, the love of my life, my dearest of companions, my shawtyest of bae, my babiest of baby girls, please, come back to me.. I cannot do this without you

[yeoldenews]

A mother's word for word transcription of the imaginary phone call her four-year-old made to Santa Claus in 1911.

(source: The Harbor Beach Times, December 22, 1911.)

Through some outrageous case of serendipity I found a recording of another phone call this same child made 60 years later. Though I have to say his choice of conversational partner is a definite downgrade from the first call.

[lichenluvr]

Watson says all the time, Holmes is so emotionless, Holmes is a cold machine made of logic, but one of the only times a story is from Holmes' POV, he's all like they were DOOMED friends they LOVED each other but were TORN APART CRUELLY by fate and a really aggressive father ALSO I miss Watson SO BAD

[our-detective-so-supreme]

Put a knife through my heart, it would hurt less! 💔 😭

[onceuponadisembo]

Sherlock Holmes wants to infodump me so bad

[i-dont-talk-for-days-on-end]

So Holmes canonical keeps a diary! And while I'm sure it only contains the "hard facts" of his life - like where he went and whom he talked to and maybe his expenses if he didn't keep them separately, and of course his case notes - it is very tempting to think that he maybe also made notes about Watson. The book he looked at for a moment longer than usual so Holmes knows what to get him for Christmas, his preferred composers (probably not the same as Holmes's), maybe a thing he said that struck a chord with Holmes ...

[dathen]

Would you like to read the opening chapter of my monograph concerning the human ear? I am certain you will find it much more engaging. I believe I will begin thus:

It is sad to contemplate our lack of literature on ears—

FIAKFJAKFJKSJFD INCREDIBLE

[amypihcs]

The way the Granada series showed Watson falling in perfect step with the soldier and his way to introduce himself to the major... that's incredible. Truly, they found a perfect way to pass to us not used to the proper and 'civilian' way to carry handkerchiefs that Watson does look like the former soldier he is and none can mistake him for anything else.

Plus the way Holmes is ABSOLUTELY NOT AMUSED to find himself in that place and Watson stiff bearing are perfect for the situation. Watson wants to state that he in in his right being there and he's in no way as comfortable as he wants to look, Holmes is downright unhappy to be there and that WATSON is being so stiff and anxious too, i think.

[tarmac-rat]

The Man Who Killed Jason Foreman

[un-monstre]

Sherlock gets so grumpy when separated from Watson for any length of time. He’s like a pair-bonded shelter cat.

[quietwingsinthesky]

i do love canon amy & rory but god, does some part of me wish they really had gone with the idea of the doctor picking up a child as a companion (and then later, that child’s best friend with a huge crush on her.) with the rest of the season really not changing at all, except now it’s amelia pond with an angel in her head killing her and lost alone in the woods. it’s little rory who dies and is forgotten and becomes a toy soldier. if this is going to be a fairy tale, then let it be one. children have never been safe in fairy tales.

[thefisherqueen]

There was not a finer lad in the regiment. We formed a friendship—the sort of friendship which can only be made when one lives the same life and shares the same joys and sorrows. He was my mate—and that means a good deal in the Army. 

*whispering* Oh my god, they were mates

[eirinstiva]

La aventura del soldado de la piel descolorida and translating love terms

After three letters from Sherlock Holmes, a cup two cups of tea and an alfajor I'm ready (?) to write about The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier, known in Spahish as La aventura del soldado de la piel descolorida (in my copy of Todo Sherlock Holmes) or La aventura del soldado de la piel decolorada.

One of the principal problems in translations is to translate one word into a group of another ones and choose the most accurate for each case. Love as a noun can be translated as it follows:

Amor: affection, romantic feelings, lover, affectionate term. Enamoramiento: romantic feelings. Querido, querida: dear, affectionate term. Cariño: affection, affectionate term. Pasión: strong liking. Aprecio: regard, esteem

And as a verb:

Amar: feel affection for somebody, be fond of somebody, have romantic feelings for somebody. Querer: feel affection for somebody. Adorar: like strongly. Apreciar: be fond of somebody.

The use changes according to times, dialects, gender, even personal experience. That's why every time I go to a store and a Venezuelan person calls me "mi amor" my cold southerner Chilean arse is screaming in panic because I don't use it at all, even with my pets.

Anyway _(:з)∠)_

In the first letter we had "You must put it down, sir, to my real love for your son." was translated as "Tiene usted que disculparme, señor. Cárguelo a cuenta del cariño que siento por su hijo". In this case there's no much difference because cariño is a word used for friends, family and lovers, so this can be interpretated in many ways. Later Dodd said "I was fond of your son Godfrey, sir." which can be translated as "Señor, yo apreciaba mucho a su hijo Godfrey." and still the sense of love is present.

However, in the same letter Holmes call Watson "an ideal helpmate", or "un ayudante ideal" in Spanish. Ayudante is used here as a helper, and it doesn't have the same strong feeling that helpmate that can be used for spouse. Helpmate has a degree of affection that ayudante doesn't have. Ayudante is more used in work or study context, and in my personal opinion it's too cold to use with somebody that has been at your side for so many years. Shame on you, Holmes in Spanish! ಠ_ಠ

This story has something, that little spiciness between James and Godfrey, and in the constants laments of Holmes missing Watson that even translating love as cariño or aprecio you can feel something intense is happening here. To finish this I quote Jesús Ulceroy's comments of this story and the role of Watson in Holmes' work as a detective:

Si sabemos leer entre líneas, nos damos cuenta de que la torpeza de Watson es una figuración, un fingimiento. Un ardid que permite al ambiente relajarse y que agudiza los sentidos analíticos del detective. Pese a todo, Holmes nos vuelve a dar su bofetada al declarar resuelto el caso mucho antes del final del mismo: un final seco y feliz. Un final explicativo. Y un ardiente deseo finamente expresado para que Watson vuelva. ¡Ah, el amor, sus egoísmos!

Translating into English is:

If we know how to read between the lines, we realize that Watson's clumsiness is a figuration, a pretence. A trick that allows the environment to relax and that sharpens the detective's analytical senses. Despite everything, Holmes slaps us again by declaring the case solved long before its end: a dry and happy ending. An explanatory ending. And a finely expressed burning wish for Watson to return. Ah, the love, the selfishness of it!

[stephensmithuk]

The Boer War (1899-1902)

If the 1897 Diamond Jubilee is seen as the zenith of the British Empire, the Boer War is arguably the start of its collapse.

There are two conflicts with the name "Boer War", of which the second is by far the better known.

"Boer" is Afrikaans for farmer. The two wars are known as "the Freedom Wars" in the Afrikaans language and "the South African War" in the country itself.

More specifically, the Boers were Dutch farmers who emigrated from the Dutch and then British-controlled Cape Colony north and east into the Transvaal region that is now north-east South Africa, to get away from what they saw as an oppressive government. As well as the fact that the British abolished slavery, which they wanted to keep. So yeah. They were more specifically known as "Trekboers" or travelling farmers. Trek is of course where we get the term Star Trek from.

The first conflict from 1880-1881 started after a farmer refused to pay an illegally inflated tax, had his wagon seized - and his friends then assaulted the auction.

The Boers, better equipped, better trained and far more experienced at shooting than their British opponents, managed to defeat the latter in three major engagements. Unwilling to become engaged in a major conflict, London negotiated a peace deal that gave the South African Republic effectively full control over internal affairs, although the British retained control of external relations. This was the first time the British had lost a war to rebels since the American War of Independence.

Then gold was found in the region and an influx of immigrants, mostly British, turned up, seeking their fortune. Johannesburg emerged as a major community overnight. This caused a lot of tensions, even more so when the government in Praetoria (the SAR capital) denied the 'uitlanders' civil rights.

In 1896, Cape Colony Prime Minister Cecil Rhodes authorised Leander Starr Jameson to conduct a raid into the territory with the aim of triggering a revolution. The raid was badly botched, failed and caused massive embarrassment to the British government, especially when Kaiser Wilhelm II sent a congratulatory telegram to the SAR government... and telegrams showing Rhodes' involvement were found. Jameson, while lionised in the press, spent 15 months in Holloway for the raid.

Shortly after this, the Second Matabele War saw the British have to deal with an uprising by the Ndebele and Shona peoples in what is now Zimbabwe. They defeated it, but with many losses on both sides.

Tensions between the British and the Boers continued to grow after the Jameson Raid; the uitlanders did not see their rights improve, the Boers mistreated the African population, and a lot of the British establishment thought it would be an easy victory. The generals, for their part, did not.

The SAR had acquired high quality weaponry from Germany and France, including bolt-action Mauser rifles. The British Army for its part was in dire need of reform.

The war broke out in 1899 after an ultimatum from SAR leader Paul Kruger for the British to withdraw their forces from the border. The SAR had allied with the Orange Free State by this point.

The Boers had formed civilian militias called "commandos". They launched an invasion of the Natal and Cape Colony, soon putting British garrisons under siege. One notable such siege was at Mafeking, where the British commander was one Robert Baden-Powell, whose use of scouting, along the deception to make his defences look better than they were allowed his force to hold out for 217 days until relieved. He would later use his experience in scouting to form, well, the Scouting Movement.

After a series of major reverses, it was clear the British were going to need to send major reinforcements, recruiting a lot of volunteers - the biggest overseas force Britain had sent to date. They also removed their local commanders and put new ones in.

The sieges were lifted and Praetoria was captured on 5 June 1900 - at which point the Boers (along with foreign volunteers) moved to guerilla warfare, something that they were very adept at, in stark contrast to the British. However, harassment is not the same as taking and holding ground.

Both forces tried to minimise the involvement of people of colour due to fear of what would happen if they armed Africans, but personnel shortages meant they ended up being involved anyway, usually in supporting roles. Mahatma Gandhi, who was a civil rights activist there, formed a corps of volunteer stretcher bearers from the Indian population.

Realising that they were only controlling the territory that they were physically in, the British changed their tactics.

Firstly, they built fortified blockhouses and armoured trains to control their supply routes.

Secondly, the British adopted a "scorched earth" policy; they rounded up Boer and African civilians, placing them in concentration camps, while also systematically destroying farms, crops etc. that the Boer forces could use to supply themselves.

The Spanish had used concentration camps in Cuba earlier in the 19th century, but this was a much wider use. With little or no soap, along with dirty water, disease swept through the overcrowded camps, with over 46,000 dying in them, including a quarter of the Boers in them - African numbers interned were not properly counted. Emily Hobhouse exposed the horrific conditions, and the matter was taken up by domestic politicians. A government commission led by Millicent Fawcett then recommended major improvements, which were largely implemented and brought down the death rate, but the damage had been done by this point.

The brutal tactics were sadly effective; the Boers were beginning to give up. However, the British themselves were running out of time and money, so gave them a generous settlement in the 1902 Treaty of Vereeniging; while the SAR and Orange Free State would be absorbed into the British Empire, Dutch could be used in schools and courts, there would be a general amnesty and reconstruction aid would be given.

Self-government was also promised and granted; it was decided that the issue of black enfranchisement would not be discussed until then - and full enfranchisement would not come until 1993.

The war was controversial in the UK; it was opposed by the opposition Liberal Party. Lord Salisbury called a snap election in 1900 and won with a slightly reduced majority. The next election in 1906 was a massive defeat for them though.

The conflict also exposed the dire state of British public health - with up to 40% of volunteers for the war being rejected on health grounds. This spurred the creation of the National Insurance system.

Arthur Conan Doyle volunteered for military service in the conflict; but was turned down due to his age. Instead, he served for three months in a field hospital and then wrote two books about the conflict. The second one, defending Britain's involvement in the war, was felt by Doyle to be the work that got him his knighthood in 1902.

The war was also notable for one journalist who after being captured by the South Africans, managed to escape from behind enemy lines, using the publicity to get into Parliament on his second attempt. His name was Winston Churchill.

At 2022 values, the war cost Britain over £19.9 billion.

They had also had 26,092 soldiers killed to the Boers 6,189. As with all wars at this time, disease was the biggest killer.