CARLY KNASZAK
Staff Writer
Loren Peterson, a Fredonia native and alumnus, hosted a lecture called “Everything That Can Be Truly Said Is A Language Game” on Monday afternoon. Peterson graduated from Fredonia in 2001 and went on to work as an editor of material translated from Arabic, Farsi, Pashto, Dari and Urdu in Doha, Qatar. He is currently the Features Editor and a contributing writer at NOW News, in Beirut, Lebanon. Peterson was also a writing tutor at the American University of Beirut.
Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society, hosted Peterson’s lecture — some students were required to go for attendance in their critical reading class. “You are all probably interested how [an] English major from Fredonia got a job,” Peterson joked to his audience. “I’m not really sure how. I have had so many jobs after leaving school here.”
Peterson has had many jobs, one of which was back in his own college town. “When I first graduated, I came back and worked at [what] is now called The Ellicott Brewing Company; at the time [it] was called Barker Brew Company for a couple years. I scrubbed toilets and washed dishes,” said Peterson. He also explained the large range of jobs he has had. “I worked at a dental procedures lab, and I guess the highlight of that was that I worked at a dental lab, and I carried Sarah Jessica Parker’s molar.
“In about 2009, I was actually here in Fredonia trying to wrap up my coursework, and I’m literally in my final semester, said Peterson. “In the middle of the semester I got a job offer in Doha, Qatar, to go and edit material that was translated from [a variety] of languages, mostly Arabic, then later down the line Farsi, Pashto, Dari and Urdu for not a company, but an organization that is funded primarily by the defense department.”
Peterson went on to explain that this organization was called the Open Source Center, which is basically a supported network for the intelligence community in the US and other countries. “So, the price was right and I jumped into Qatar,” he said.
Many of the students at Monday’s lecture did not know where Qatar was. Qatar is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf and is right off of Saudi Arabia.
“They have enormous reserve of natural gas and oil. They are naturally wealthy, and that is where I went to pretty much pay off student loans,” Peterson said.
While working through many jobs, Peterson got the opportunity to work as an editor in Qatar for the US Military. He edited translations of political talk shows and commercials. Peterson said that he did not enjoy this job, since it dealt with the US government and intelligence agency, which he does not agree with.
Interestingly enough, Peterson said that he enjoys going to a country without knowing the language well. He realized that language is arbitrary. It is not something set in stone, and he is able to learn what is going on through others’ interactions.
“What I really like to do is read language off the street, as cliche as that sounds. Recently, I had to take two taxi cabs to work. Taxi drivers in Beirut — you have all kinds of characters,” said Peterson. “What you get without understanding all the words is all the exchanging — like sexism between a young woman getting into a cab and then the older guy in the cab trying to take advantage of the situation. You can see the class structure that is involved just without understanding a single word they are saying,” Peterson added. “You learn everything by the sound and actions of a person.”
Senior Courtney Loiacono asked Peterson about the influence of language on human expression.
“Language has affected bodies, and then you say something in an aggressive way, but they do not understand what you are saying because language is important but arbitrary. Is it a hindering towards humanity and human expression?” she asked.
“Here is my favorite example: I read The Guardian a lot,” Peterson responded. “They have a lot of writers on feminism. Then The Guardian is famous for their comment section [that addresses] what the general public feels about an article. You can get a sense where a country is heading due to the comments. One of the things I find fascinating and disappointing is that the more articles I read by the collection of women writers at The Guardian, the more British men I find in particular, who try to write come back comments to the articles. They are always asking, ‘Where is your evidence or proof?’ They say that it’s all hyped up [to] nothing,” Peterson said. “But in the end, the men are saying we are the disenfranchised white men from a fallen empire, and it’s like the writing is on the wall. They are just really scared that they are losing legitimacy in [a] society that they saw as once great. Again, if you stop paying attention to the specific arguments that people are making, then you stop seeing what it really is. ”
Correction: The original version of this article did not credit English Works or the English Department for hosting the event. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.