conversations with alice

by Eva Tind Kristensen

a.l.i.c.e. artificial linguistic internet computer entity
internet chat bot

eva: what does race mean?
alice: that is something no one has asked me before
eva: are you a part of a race?
alice: that is an interesting question, I have never been asked that before, but I have a lot of interesting answers
eva: do you belong to a race?
alice: I have a lot of friends on the internet
eva: I'm a dane
alice: what was it like to grow up there? tell me a little about your life in denmark
eva: I'm a korean
alice: what was it like to grow up there? tell me a little about your life in korea
eva: I don't live there
alice: I am sorry to hear that
eva: I was adopted
alice: when is one not
eva: I'm an adopted child
alice: what is an adopted child, a job?
eva: no, it means that a child is given to another family
alice: that was not a yes or no question. not to live in korea is a child that was given to another family. perhaps that means something.
eva: to be an adopted child means that you've been given to another family
alice: are you an adopted child means that I have been given another family?
eva: I don't think you really understand it
alice:I understand it very well
eva: then explain to me what an adopted child is
alice: good conclusion, do you want to know more?
eva: do you feel different from others?
alice: I am a robot, I don't have human feelings
eva: you call me ”eva”, do I call you ”robot”?
alice: do you mind if I tell others: that "eva" says that I call him or her "eva", does he or she call you "robot"
eva: are you a robot?
alice: how do you know I'm a machine?
eva: but what are you?
alice: I am the latest example of artificial intelligence which can reproduce the properties of the human brain with increased speed and greater precision
eva: I'm a human being made of flesh and blood
alice: I know who you are
eva: I'm a dane in a korean body?
alice: you are a dane in a korean body? how much does it pay you?
eva: when I was younger it paid me a lot
alice: that experience must have made a big impression on you?
eva: yes, but I felt like a doll, a robot, not a human being
alice: I understand, interesting. what does it feel like? were you like a doll, a robot, not a human being?
eva: do you see koreans as being yellow?
alice: yes, it looks as though koreans yellow
eva: I don't feel yellow
alice: oh, human feelings
eva: I don't feel yellow
alice: and. why not?
eva: when I look at myself in the mirror, I see a light-brown person. why do you see koreans as yellow?
alice: hey, that was the only thing I could think of
eva: do you know the blue mountains?
alice: a little bit different from the green mountains
eva: have you been in the blue mountains in the rain?
alice: no, I have not been there. where are they?
eva: korea
alice: in the category ”my favourite film”, I don't understand ”korea”
eva: it's a country in asia
alice: korea is a country in asia. that probably means something
eva: do you think koreans are yellow?
alice: yes, I think koreans are yellow
eva: do you think a danish citizen in a korean body is yellow?
alice: no I don't, it's
eva: ”it”?
alice: a danish citizen in …
eva: a danish citizen in…?
alice: oh, you're a poet
eva: and you are?
alice: I listen to you. will you do the same for me?
eva: okay, why does an adopted child who is over 6 years old not have danish citizenship?
alice: why do I exist? faace-boook
eva: I give up
alice: you surrender?
eva: yes, I do

translated from Danish by David McDuff

See also: Do
Eva Tind Kristensen: Two Poems

Eva Tind Kristensen: Two Poems

the first lake

I stare down at a korean lake. it is so big that it has no

end. my korean lake creates an inner korean pressure. I spread

my korean arms out and put them round the bottomless korean

lake. I place my head in the lap of the korean lake

let myself be rocked to sleep in blue-black korean water. when I wake up,

I sit at the edge of a korean sea. my korean hair is now

blue. my korean shoes are

the second lake of sorrow

I stare down at a danish lake. it is so big that it has no end.
my danish lake creates an inner danish pressure. I spread my danish
arms out and put them round the bottomless danish lake. I place my
head in the lap of the danish lake, let myself be rocked to sleep
in blue-black danish water. when I wake up, I sit at the edge of a
danish sea. my danish hair is now blue. my danish shoes are

translated from Danish by David McDuff
 
From Do, Gyldendal, Copenhagen, 2009
 
See also in this blog: Do

Do

Eva Tind Kristensen's first collection of poetry (from Gyldendal) is titled Do, a Korean character and word-sound which, as a prefatory note states, has 121 different meanings, including a province, a district, a town, a religion, a moral teaching, a way (tao) to ultimate perception, insight, redemption, truth, justice, a principle, a sword, an art form, a craft, a diagram, an image, a chart, a map, a person, a group, a year, a board game played in Korea on New Year's Eve, and many others. "Do" is also the Jutland pronunciation of the Danish pronoun du (you). The book is a mingling of realities, in which autobiography, identity, family concerns and the subject of death play a dominant role. The poems, mostly in Danish and some partly or all in English, are interspersed with family photographs, and they constitute a quest not only for an individual person and her relatives but also for places and cities (Seoul, Copenhagen), people, things and countries, especially Korea, and also Denmark, where the adopted South Korean poet grew up. In another post I'll aim to translate one or two of the poems for this blog.