JFaulkner
September 22nd, 2007, 06:58 AM
A re-hash of an argument I have made in the past, to see what people think:
According to an article linked to nausicaa.net (http://utd500.utdallas.edu/~hairston/laputaname.html), it is not known whether Miyazaki knew that laputa meant "the w-hore" in spanish when the name was chosen. Arguing from the movie, I suggest the spanish meaning is consistent with the themes shown. This is independent of whether Miyazaki actually intended to use the name to tie in with the movie's themes.
PG106 of "Irrational Man - A study in existential philosophy" by William Barrett begins with a consideration of Laputa in Swift's novel (Swift is author of Gulliver's Travels, in case you didn't know). To quote (PG106):
"Laputa is an island that floats in the air .... When the shipwrecked Gulliver is rescued and brought up to this island, he finds the inhabitants the oddest-looking creatures he has ever seen. Their eyes do not focus on the person or object before them; instead one eye is turned upward as if in perpetual contemplation of the stars, and the other turned inward in empty and vacuous introversion."
PG107 describes how the Laputans are paradigms of the intellectual - so absorbed in abstract thought, so cerebral that a normal conversation is beyond them. The floating island is symbolic of the lofty ideals of such abstract thought which is cut off from hard reality (the earth). Thus, Barrett says:
"That vigorous coarseness of Swift's temperament, which expressed itself even in the name he chose for this place, la puta, suggests and may even have been inspired by Luther's equally vigorous and coarse exclamation, "The w-hore reason!""
Well OK, wiki-paedia zealots would find this Luther thing at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laputa (typically, a source is not given within the wiki entry), but the book goes into much greater detail.
And, so what?
In a similar vein, in the anime, Laputa can be seen as representing the pinnacle of the achievement of the human intellect, "rationality" as it were. As Musca says:
"Laputa flies because of a formerly impressive scientific power."
This demonstrates Laputa as the culmination of some logical, rational process of sorts. The intellectual bias of Laputa is reflected in Musca. He cleaves to the intellectual side: e.g. while Pazu and Sheeta grapple with fierce winds and really "feels" nature to reach Laputa, Musca sits there in an airship (product of the intellect) dangling Sheeta's Levistone, and letting the airship do all the hard work. Musca seeks Laputa for power and wants to rip apart the Earth (nature). Contrast this with Sheeta's song, recited to him:
"Put down roots in the Earth;
Let's live with the wind;
With seeds, make fat the winter;
With the birds, let's sing of spring."
... and soon afterwards:
"you can't live separated from the ground."
i.e. she alludes to the danger of losing our "roots" to Earth (Laputa is an uprooted giant tree, with a castle [human construct] bolted on), that is, the danger of letting the uniquely human intellect dictate every aspect of our lives, to the detriment of ignoring the instinctual, "emotional" basis that we share with the rest of nature. That this song comes from the valley of Gondoa further indicates the contrast with the celestial Laputa. And perhaps to add to this dichotomy, Pazu comes from a mining village. Musca also blurts out:
"If you want to be a man, too, then listen to reason!!"
Sheeta's Grandma says that the spell of destruction for Laputa is realized with the words
"Light, be reborn."
Light, in a symbolic sense (e.g. in Gnosticism), can be equated with that type of knowledge associated with revelation - that which is divorced from knowledge arrived at by logical thought. Thus, the spell is a call to arms - "Bring down this filthy [w-hore] intellect which threatens to overwhelm our whole being!". That the Light needs to be reborn suggests it is suppressed by another force; here interpreted as "logical thought".
The Levistone at the end is sacrificed by Sheeta - she rejects the power to soar above the Earth and lord over it - that is - she rejects the path which means a total desecration of our "emotions". In other words, she follows the path in which we are much more than the sum of rational thoughts.
So, Laputa is appropriate for the floating island in the anime as it shows how the intellect that subsumes all can be "the w-hore" which becomes the blight of human existence.
According to an article linked to nausicaa.net (http://utd500.utdallas.edu/~hairston/laputaname.html), it is not known whether Miyazaki knew that laputa meant "the w-hore" in spanish when the name was chosen. Arguing from the movie, I suggest the spanish meaning is consistent with the themes shown. This is independent of whether Miyazaki actually intended to use the name to tie in with the movie's themes.
PG106 of "Irrational Man - A study in existential philosophy" by William Barrett begins with a consideration of Laputa in Swift's novel (Swift is author of Gulliver's Travels, in case you didn't know). To quote (PG106):
"Laputa is an island that floats in the air .... When the shipwrecked Gulliver is rescued and brought up to this island, he finds the inhabitants the oddest-looking creatures he has ever seen. Their eyes do not focus on the person or object before them; instead one eye is turned upward as if in perpetual contemplation of the stars, and the other turned inward in empty and vacuous introversion."
PG107 describes how the Laputans are paradigms of the intellectual - so absorbed in abstract thought, so cerebral that a normal conversation is beyond them. The floating island is symbolic of the lofty ideals of such abstract thought which is cut off from hard reality (the earth). Thus, Barrett says:
"That vigorous coarseness of Swift's temperament, which expressed itself even in the name he chose for this place, la puta, suggests and may even have been inspired by Luther's equally vigorous and coarse exclamation, "The w-hore reason!""
Well OK, wiki-paedia zealots would find this Luther thing at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laputa (typically, a source is not given within the wiki entry), but the book goes into much greater detail.
And, so what?
In a similar vein, in the anime, Laputa can be seen as representing the pinnacle of the achievement of the human intellect, "rationality" as it were. As Musca says:
"Laputa flies because of a formerly impressive scientific power."
This demonstrates Laputa as the culmination of some logical, rational process of sorts. The intellectual bias of Laputa is reflected in Musca. He cleaves to the intellectual side: e.g. while Pazu and Sheeta grapple with fierce winds and really "feels" nature to reach Laputa, Musca sits there in an airship (product of the intellect) dangling Sheeta's Levistone, and letting the airship do all the hard work. Musca seeks Laputa for power and wants to rip apart the Earth (nature). Contrast this with Sheeta's song, recited to him:
"Put down roots in the Earth;
Let's live with the wind;
With seeds, make fat the winter;
With the birds, let's sing of spring."
... and soon afterwards:
"you can't live separated from the ground."
i.e. she alludes to the danger of losing our "roots" to Earth (Laputa is an uprooted giant tree, with a castle [human construct] bolted on), that is, the danger of letting the uniquely human intellect dictate every aspect of our lives, to the detriment of ignoring the instinctual, "emotional" basis that we share with the rest of nature. That this song comes from the valley of Gondoa further indicates the contrast with the celestial Laputa. And perhaps to add to this dichotomy, Pazu comes from a mining village. Musca also blurts out:
"If you want to be a man, too, then listen to reason!!"
Sheeta's Grandma says that the spell of destruction for Laputa is realized with the words
"Light, be reborn."
Light, in a symbolic sense (e.g. in Gnosticism), can be equated with that type of knowledge associated with revelation - that which is divorced from knowledge arrived at by logical thought. Thus, the spell is a call to arms - "Bring down this filthy [w-hore] intellect which threatens to overwhelm our whole being!". That the Light needs to be reborn suggests it is suppressed by another force; here interpreted as "logical thought".
The Levistone at the end is sacrificed by Sheeta - she rejects the power to soar above the Earth and lord over it - that is - she rejects the path which means a total desecration of our "emotions". In other words, she follows the path in which we are much more than the sum of rational thoughts.
So, Laputa is appropriate for the floating island in the anime as it shows how the intellect that subsumes all can be "the w-hore" which becomes the blight of human existence.