The Facts of "Interpretations"

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“All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at that time is a function of   power and not truth” – F. W. Nietzsche.

It is very common to see that when a division bench in a court of law hears a case, none of the judges will deliver the same verdict. Likewise when a literary work of the past or to that matter, any literary work is reviewed by several scholars, none of their interpretations will end on the same note.

When author Jonathan Swift’s 1726 novel, “Gulliver’s Travels” was studied by author Isaac Asimov in 1980, he opined that decoding the ‘mysterious’ phrases used by Swift in his novel was a mere waste of time. When the same novel was studied in 2015 by Professor Irving Rothman, he is perceived to have decrypted the phrases used by Swift in his novel. Professor explains that the words such as “Borach Mivola”, “Hnea Yahoo” and others are wilful distortions of the Israeli language, Hebrew.

The English word “Ok” is spelt “Okay” and also as “Okie” and “Okies” (all words mean the same) in online/sms lingo. Likewise, Professor Irving Rothman has propounded that the words used by Jonathan Swift like “Mivola”, “Yahoo” and “Hnea” are deliberately twisted versions of the original Hebrew words, “Mivolim”, “YHVH”and “Ayn” respectively.

Professor Irving Rothman may or may not be correct in his study but reviews are intended to be read and not to be taken for granted until and unless supported by evidences because interpretations are always subject to change according to time as Nietzsche rightly said.

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