Palavras Criativas – Fala-nos do teu interesse pela neurociência e da importância da investigação nesta área nos EUA
Leida Tolentino – O meu interesse pela neurociência e, portanto, pelo estudo e investigação dessa máquina fenomenal formada pelo cérebro e o sistema nervoso humano, é de longa data e tem sido uma presença constante na minha vida, se bem reflectindo. Desde muito jovem interessei-me pelo significado do que é ser humano, e o nosso lugar na imensidão do cosmos. A neurociência é um campo muito interdisciplinar, incorporando conceitos e métodos de varias disciplinas, não só como a biologia, a química, física, mas também a psicologia, filosofia, e matemática. O cérebro humano constitui-se de um sistema de redes de proporções gigantescas, exemplificando-se simplesmente no numero de neurónios (100 bilhões) e consequentes interconexões (cerca de centenas de triliões), merecendo o titulo de um dos sistemas mais complexos no universo!
Embora o estudo do sistema nervoso tenha raízes antigas, já com os Egípcios e Gregos, a neurociência moderna é uma disciplina jovem, que ganhou mais popularidade depois dos anos 50 com descobertas de novas técnicas e avanços noutras disciplinas relacionadas. Mas foi em 1990 que George H. W. Bush (o sénior) declarou o inicio da “década do cérebro” nos Estados Unidos, e foi nessa altura que também se começou a utilizar a técnica fMRI em estudos neurocientíficos. Actualmente a neurociência é uma área de investigação muito activa, com relevância para assuntos diversos e importantes, desde a procura de curas para doenças neurológicas como Parkinson’s, como também para questões filosóficas antigas que têm a ver com a percepção da realidade e alcance do conhecimento humano.
Leida Tolentino – O meu interesse pela neurociência e, portanto, pelo estudo e investigação dessa máquina fenomenal formada pelo cérebro e o sistema nervoso humano, é de longa data e tem sido uma presença constante na minha vida, se bem reflectindo. Desde muito jovem interessei-me pelo significado do que é ser humano, e o nosso lugar na imensidão do cosmos. A neurociência é um campo muito interdisciplinar, incorporando conceitos e métodos de varias disciplinas, não só como a biologia, a química, física, mas também a psicologia, filosofia, e matemática. O cérebro humano constitui-se de um sistema de redes de proporções gigantescas, exemplificando-se simplesmente no numero de neurónios (100 bilhões) e consequentes interconexões (cerca de centenas de triliões), merecendo o titulo de um dos sistemas mais complexos no universo!
Embora o estudo do sistema nervoso tenha raízes antigas, já com os Egípcios e Gregos, a neurociência moderna é uma disciplina jovem, que ganhou mais popularidade depois dos anos 50 com descobertas de novas técnicas e avanços noutras disciplinas relacionadas. Mas foi em 1990 que George H. W. Bush (o sénior) declarou o inicio da “década do cérebro” nos Estados Unidos, e foi nessa altura que também se começou a utilizar a técnica fMRI em estudos neurocientíficos. Actualmente a neurociência é uma área de investigação muito activa, com relevância para assuntos diversos e importantes, desde a procura de curas para doenças neurológicas como Parkinson’s, como também para questões filosóficas antigas que têm a ver com a percepção da realidade e alcance do conhecimento humano.
Palavras Criativas – Desvenda-nos um pouco da tua tese de doutoramento “Como é que o cérebro se organiza para dar resposta ao bilinguismo”
Leida Tolentino – Essa questão que citas aborda uma das vertentes da minha tese que, mais especificamente, coloca a questão da importância de vários factores nos estágios iniciais de aprendizagem como adulto de uma gramática estrangeira. Fiz experiências de laboratório contrastando factores como a saliência de formas morfológicas e nível de explicação explícita durante o ensino. Um outro aspecto que me interessa muito e sobre o qual tenho publicado, é o da influencia da língua materna na aprendizagem, e a sua semelhança ou contraste com a língua estrangeira. Participantes da minha experiência de doutoramento foram falantes de língua materna Inglesa e aprenderam uma mini-versão de Sueco, uma língua que tem várias semelhanças mas também pontos de contraste com o Inglês. Os resultados preliminares, que tenho estado agora a analisar, sugerem uma influência de ambos o método de ensino e também de semelhanças e diferenças com o Inglês.
Leida Tolentino – Essa questão que citas aborda uma das vertentes da minha tese que, mais especificamente, coloca a questão da importância de vários factores nos estágios iniciais de aprendizagem como adulto de uma gramática estrangeira. Fiz experiências de laboratório contrastando factores como a saliência de formas morfológicas e nível de explicação explícita durante o ensino. Um outro aspecto que me interessa muito e sobre o qual tenho publicado, é o da influencia da língua materna na aprendizagem, e a sua semelhança ou contraste com a língua estrangeira. Participantes da minha experiência de doutoramento foram falantes de língua materna Inglesa e aprenderam uma mini-versão de Sueco, uma língua que tem várias semelhanças mas também pontos de contraste com o Inglês. Os resultados preliminares, que tenho estado agora a analisar, sugerem uma influência de ambos o método de ensino e também de semelhanças e diferenças com o Inglês.
O grau que pretendo obter em Dezembro, inshallah, é na área de Psicologia Cognitiva com concentração específica em Neurociência Cognitiva. São áreas fascinantes, principalmente no contexto do processamento da linguagem, e do bilinguismo em particular. No meu trabalho, uso o bilinguismo como uma lente que me dá acesso a processos mentais e neurais humanos em geral, pois a aprendizagem e uso de línguas requerem habilidades cognitivas várias, como a memória, atenção, percepção, capacidade indutiva, etc. Utilizo não só métodos comportamentais, mas também electrofisiológicos, como os Potenciais Cerebrais Relacionados com Eventos (ERPs), uma técnica que extrai informação do encefalograma, em contextos experimentais.
O estudo neurocientífico do bilinguismo é importante não só para países como Cabo Verde onde a diglossia é prevalente, ou os EUA onde aproximadamente um quinto da população fala uma língua diferente do Inglês em casa, mas para o mundo inteiro que, contrariamente a crença comum, é na sua maioria pelo menos bilingue. Espero contribuir para esse campo activo com os resultados da minha tese, e por aí fora.
O estudo neurocientífico do bilinguismo é importante não só para países como Cabo Verde onde a diglossia é prevalente, ou os EUA onde aproximadamente um quinto da população fala uma língua diferente do Inglês em casa, mas para o mundo inteiro que, contrariamente a crença comum, é na sua maioria pelo menos bilingue. Espero contribuir para esse campo activo com os resultados da minha tese, e por aí fora.
Palavras Criativas – Partilha a experiência de integrar uma Companhia de Dança Ocidental Africana – “Balafon” (Pittsburgh, Pensilvânia)
Leida Tolentino – Durante cinco anos, desde 2005, que fiz parte do Balafon como dançarina e, ocasionalmente, como percussionista. Foi uma experiência inestimável, em que obtive um poço de conhecimento de danças e ritmos percussivos ocidentais africanos, actuando em vários palcos e começando também a minha carreira educativa na área da dança, ensinando em estúdios locais.
Acho interessante o meu percurso nesta área, pois sendo Caboverdiana e estando tão perto da costa Africana, talvez pudesse-se pensar que essas formas artísticas se encontrariam também nas ilhas e eu teria começado esse tipo de dança já em Cabo Verde. Mas não foi até a década de 2000, já estudante universitária em Boston, é que iniciei esse trajecto, aprendendo com artistas Senegaleses, Malienses, e Guineenses. Quando fui viver em Pittsburgh em 2005, para continuar os meus estudos académicos, conheci a Kadiatou Conté, natural de Conakry, que é a fundadora e directora artística do Balafon. Desde essa altura que danço com a companhia, aliás, dançava até há um mês atrás, antes de mudar de estado, desta vez deslocando-me para Austin, no estado do Texas. É uma cidade com um ambiente pacífico e descontraído e também muito consciente em termos sociais e ambientais. Já me tenho estado a integrar na “cena” de dança ocidental africana, que por cá é predominantemente da Costa do Marfim. Para mim a dança é alegria divina, o movimento do corpo ao som transcendente da música e percussão, e acho que já não paro tão cedo. Portanto... stay tuned for new adventures!
Palavras Criativas – Obrigada pela “conversa” e deixa-nos uma mensagem
Leida Tolentino – Agradeço a oportunidade e o interesse e, em honra a Palavras Criativas, deixo aqui um exemplar da minha escrita recreativa. É um conto sobre a nossa antiga empregada e minha “segunda mãe”, Maria Rosa. Infelizmente, está escrito em Inglês – espero que seja acessível a alguns pelo menos!
Obrigada, prima, foi um prazer!
CONTO
Mary Black
I don’t remember the first time that I met Maria Rosa. I assume that’s partly because I have no recollection of most people or events from that general period of my life. But my lack of memory for our earlier encounters is also akin to the way that, for example, most of us do not think about when we met our mothers – they just have always been there.
My earliest memories of her are from a time when I must have been three or four years old and she was working and living with my family in Portugal. My father was the Capeverdean ambassador in this country (and a few other neighboring ones) and Maria Rosa had come with my parents from São Vicente to help out with the semi-professional domestic life of an ambassador’s wife. It is said that my dad suffered a bit of an embarrassment at the airport when he stepped off the airplane carrying a furiously- and continuously-screaming child in his arms while he was to be officially greeted by the Portuguese entities who awaited him. Apparently I hadn’t taken very well to the fact that Maria Rosa had had to stay behind and catch a different international flight than us.
I remember the peculiar feeling of being propped up on her back with the support of a white sheet which she tied tightly across her chest. It was a constantly shifting perspective from my little world behind her back when she moved efficiently from place to place going about her daily routines. I kept my arms stretched out around her and felt my body tight against her back. It was soothing. She cooked, cleaned, washed, and took care of us – my sister Nancy, my cousin Andreia (who was living with us at the time) and me. She was the one who packed the sweet yogurt and snacks which we ate during school recess.
When I was about five the family moved back to Cape Verde. My parents say that for a while I complained about the lack of “fruta de Rastelo” – a mocking allusion to both my faulty pronunciation and a general deprivation of fresh fruits and vegetables in the islands as compared to Portugal. But I nevertheless seem to have adapted quickly and remember walking to school together with Khadidja – who was to become my best childhood friend – chaperoned on alternate days by Maria Rosa or just Rosa, who was tia Ana’s maid.
For some time, during the 80’s Maria Rosa was attending adult literacy school in the evenings after work. She carried her books in a shoulder bag made of intricate rope patterns. Despite her undeniable practical intelligence, she never became fully literate but nevertheless made significant progress in the spelling and reading of simple words and sentences. I believe this was also around the time when my parents purchased a large blackboard and placed it in her room for convenience. I then started conducting daily math and literacy lessons geared towards my younger cousins Mayra and Martha, which inevitably resulted in Maria Rosa vehemently complaining about the chalk dust left in her room at night.
Because she never became completely proficient in writing, Maria Rosa always asked either me or my sister to jot down the daily record of market produce purchases as she meticulously dictated to us the name and price of a fruit or vegetable. As I recall, our job ended there and she would then take over and do the math herself and sometimes even write down some items that were only later remembered or if we kids didn’t happen to be around at the time. Her routine trip to the central market in Praia came to later constitute her sole daily venture from the house into the outside world. She usually went in the mornings, after she’d taken care of breakfast and done some house cleanup. On these occasions, she would change out of her apron and simple work uniforms and put on regular clothes. She would also discard her head scarf or wear a nicer one than those with which she always kept her hair tied around the house.
Maria Rosa loved fight movies. The Kung Fu types, in particular. She seemed to have an uncanny ability for understanding foreign films despite her limited literacy in her native language. But I suspect that whatever remaining plot intricacies she may have encountered, in the end they did influence her choice of genre – it doesn’t exactly take superior linguistic knowledge to understand Rocky II. She was also a devoted fan of Brazilian soap operas, like every other woman in the Portuguese-speaking world at the time. We used to all watch episodes of “Escrava Isaura” or “Cambalacho” together as a family starting at 9 pm every night. I believe it was around this time that Maria Rosa became “Mary Black” to us – up to this day – based on a maid character from one of the soaps. She didn’t seem to mind my sister or me, and indeed found the nickname amusing (at least initially), so the moniker ended up sticking.
Mary Black was also an ally to us against our mother. She would often argue in our favor regarding sensitive teenage matters such as curfews and allowance amounts, and she was the one to give in and “secretly” fry an egg for me and my sister when lunch was some kind of fish dish that we refused to eat. Only later did we come to appreciate her famous “tuna pie” and “cebolada”. Because of her natural talent and ample training in the culinary and service arts, she was sometimes requested by my mom’s sisters to serve at big parties at their houses. I suspect that she did not particularly enjoy these outings but they constituted extra income, nevertheless.
During calmer afternoons, Mary Black normally enjoyed standing by the dining-room windows simply observing the people and the kids in our neighborhood. She knew all of our friends and also about their parents. For a brief time only, she took to going to the movie theatre near our apartment in Plateau, and I later learned that this activity may have been related to the existence of a male friend. I, of course, was completely oblivious of this latter fact as it unfolded and thus ended up making an insensible comment during one of our ugliest fights that sent her crying. I remember feeling shocked as I had no recollection of having ever seen her cry and, most importantly, not having attributed much significance to my nonchalant dismissal of her threat to “return home to São Vicente” which ended up offending her greatly. I now understand that it must have been a very emotional period in her romantic relationship (which I believe did not exactly have a happy ending) and personal life in general and that, being furthermore rejected by me, her daughter for all intents and purposes, was not a necessary addition to her life. Even though she had two sons and a daughter, and other relatives living in a different island, we were her family now. Indeed, my sister and I read and wrote letters to her son Aguinaldo who had emigrated to Sweden and had a cute little daughter with a blonde Swedish woman. Her sister Luisa would also write occasionally.
When I finished high school and left the country, Mary Black finally returned to her first, or maybe now second, home in São Vicente. She had built herself a small cement house there with the money she borrowed from my parents and my uncle (tio) Nando and, I believe, my tia Dina. This meant a lot to her, that she could now go home and be with her relatives and rest assured in her own home. As it turns out, her son Lucio and his family are the current occupants of the little house and Maria Rosa lives at her sister’s place.
I saw Maria Rosa recently in my dreams – she shows up often, as does my family in general. But before that, I saw her when I visited her daughter Odete’s house while home on vacation about four years ago. We were both excited to see each other and she seemed genuinely happy with her new life. That afternoon she was watching her little grandson Yanick while his parents were attending secondary-education classes after work. I felt that this maintained her occupied and brought her happiness at the same time. And he was the cutest little boy.
One other thing that I can say about Mary Black is that she is the only person who I currently maintain a traditional stamped-mail correspondence with. I receive a letter in the mail about every four months or so – now handwritten with the help of her daughter Odete. I do not claim that all of my memories of my “second mother” are accurate; human memory is notoriously unreliable. But, for what it’s worth, this is exactly how I currently think of Mary Black.
Pittsburgh, November 23, 2007
Acho interessante o meu percurso nesta área, pois sendo Caboverdiana e estando tão perto da costa Africana, talvez pudesse-se pensar que essas formas artísticas se encontrariam também nas ilhas e eu teria começado esse tipo de dança já em Cabo Verde. Mas não foi até a década de 2000, já estudante universitária em Boston, é que iniciei esse trajecto, aprendendo com artistas Senegaleses, Malienses, e Guineenses. Quando fui viver em Pittsburgh em 2005, para continuar os meus estudos académicos, conheci a Kadiatou Conté, natural de Conakry, que é a fundadora e directora artística do Balafon. Desde essa altura que danço com a companhia, aliás, dançava até há um mês atrás, antes de mudar de estado, desta vez deslocando-me para Austin, no estado do Texas. É uma cidade com um ambiente pacífico e descontraído e também muito consciente em termos sociais e ambientais. Já me tenho estado a integrar na “cena” de dança ocidental africana, que por cá é predominantemente da Costa do Marfim. Para mim a dança é alegria divina, o movimento do corpo ao som transcendente da música e percussão, e acho que já não paro tão cedo. Portanto... stay tuned for new adventures!
Palavras Criativas – Obrigada pela “conversa” e deixa-nos uma mensagem
Leida Tolentino – Agradeço a oportunidade e o interesse e, em honra a Palavras Criativas, deixo aqui um exemplar da minha escrita recreativa. É um conto sobre a nossa antiga empregada e minha “segunda mãe”, Maria Rosa. Infelizmente, está escrito em Inglês – espero que seja acessível a alguns pelo menos!
Obrigada, prima, foi um prazer!
CONTO
Mary Black
I don’t remember the first time that I met Maria Rosa. I assume that’s partly because I have no recollection of most people or events from that general period of my life. But my lack of memory for our earlier encounters is also akin to the way that, for example, most of us do not think about when we met our mothers – they just have always been there.
My earliest memories of her are from a time when I must have been three or four years old and she was working and living with my family in Portugal. My father was the Capeverdean ambassador in this country (and a few other neighboring ones) and Maria Rosa had come with my parents from São Vicente to help out with the semi-professional domestic life of an ambassador’s wife. It is said that my dad suffered a bit of an embarrassment at the airport when he stepped off the airplane carrying a furiously- and continuously-screaming child in his arms while he was to be officially greeted by the Portuguese entities who awaited him. Apparently I hadn’t taken very well to the fact that Maria Rosa had had to stay behind and catch a different international flight than us.
I remember the peculiar feeling of being propped up on her back with the support of a white sheet which she tied tightly across her chest. It was a constantly shifting perspective from my little world behind her back when she moved efficiently from place to place going about her daily routines. I kept my arms stretched out around her and felt my body tight against her back. It was soothing. She cooked, cleaned, washed, and took care of us – my sister Nancy, my cousin Andreia (who was living with us at the time) and me. She was the one who packed the sweet yogurt and snacks which we ate during school recess.
When I was about five the family moved back to Cape Verde. My parents say that for a while I complained about the lack of “fruta de Rastelo” – a mocking allusion to both my faulty pronunciation and a general deprivation of fresh fruits and vegetables in the islands as compared to Portugal. But I nevertheless seem to have adapted quickly and remember walking to school together with Khadidja – who was to become my best childhood friend – chaperoned on alternate days by Maria Rosa or just Rosa, who was tia Ana’s maid.
For some time, during the 80’s Maria Rosa was attending adult literacy school in the evenings after work. She carried her books in a shoulder bag made of intricate rope patterns. Despite her undeniable practical intelligence, she never became fully literate but nevertheless made significant progress in the spelling and reading of simple words and sentences. I believe this was also around the time when my parents purchased a large blackboard and placed it in her room for convenience. I then started conducting daily math and literacy lessons geared towards my younger cousins Mayra and Martha, which inevitably resulted in Maria Rosa vehemently complaining about the chalk dust left in her room at night.
Because she never became completely proficient in writing, Maria Rosa always asked either me or my sister to jot down the daily record of market produce purchases as she meticulously dictated to us the name and price of a fruit or vegetable. As I recall, our job ended there and she would then take over and do the math herself and sometimes even write down some items that were only later remembered or if we kids didn’t happen to be around at the time. Her routine trip to the central market in Praia came to later constitute her sole daily venture from the house into the outside world. She usually went in the mornings, after she’d taken care of breakfast and done some house cleanup. On these occasions, she would change out of her apron and simple work uniforms and put on regular clothes. She would also discard her head scarf or wear a nicer one than those with which she always kept her hair tied around the house.
Maria Rosa loved fight movies. The Kung Fu types, in particular. She seemed to have an uncanny ability for understanding foreign films despite her limited literacy in her native language. But I suspect that whatever remaining plot intricacies she may have encountered, in the end they did influence her choice of genre – it doesn’t exactly take superior linguistic knowledge to understand Rocky II. She was also a devoted fan of Brazilian soap operas, like every other woman in the Portuguese-speaking world at the time. We used to all watch episodes of “Escrava Isaura” or “Cambalacho” together as a family starting at 9 pm every night. I believe it was around this time that Maria Rosa became “Mary Black” to us – up to this day – based on a maid character from one of the soaps. She didn’t seem to mind my sister or me, and indeed found the nickname amusing (at least initially), so the moniker ended up sticking.
Mary Black was also an ally to us against our mother. She would often argue in our favor regarding sensitive teenage matters such as curfews and allowance amounts, and she was the one to give in and “secretly” fry an egg for me and my sister when lunch was some kind of fish dish that we refused to eat. Only later did we come to appreciate her famous “tuna pie” and “cebolada”. Because of her natural talent and ample training in the culinary and service arts, she was sometimes requested by my mom’s sisters to serve at big parties at their houses. I suspect that she did not particularly enjoy these outings but they constituted extra income, nevertheless.
During calmer afternoons, Mary Black normally enjoyed standing by the dining-room windows simply observing the people and the kids in our neighborhood. She knew all of our friends and also about their parents. For a brief time only, she took to going to the movie theatre near our apartment in Plateau, and I later learned that this activity may have been related to the existence of a male friend. I, of course, was completely oblivious of this latter fact as it unfolded and thus ended up making an insensible comment during one of our ugliest fights that sent her crying. I remember feeling shocked as I had no recollection of having ever seen her cry and, most importantly, not having attributed much significance to my nonchalant dismissal of her threat to “return home to São Vicente” which ended up offending her greatly. I now understand that it must have been a very emotional period in her romantic relationship (which I believe did not exactly have a happy ending) and personal life in general and that, being furthermore rejected by me, her daughter for all intents and purposes, was not a necessary addition to her life. Even though she had two sons and a daughter, and other relatives living in a different island, we were her family now. Indeed, my sister and I read and wrote letters to her son Aguinaldo who had emigrated to Sweden and had a cute little daughter with a blonde Swedish woman. Her sister Luisa would also write occasionally.
When I finished high school and left the country, Mary Black finally returned to her first, or maybe now second, home in São Vicente. She had built herself a small cement house there with the money she borrowed from my parents and my uncle (tio) Nando and, I believe, my tia Dina. This meant a lot to her, that she could now go home and be with her relatives and rest assured in her own home. As it turns out, her son Lucio and his family are the current occupants of the little house and Maria Rosa lives at her sister’s place.
I saw Maria Rosa recently in my dreams – she shows up often, as does my family in general. But before that, I saw her when I visited her daughter Odete’s house while home on vacation about four years ago. We were both excited to see each other and she seemed genuinely happy with her new life. That afternoon she was watching her little grandson Yanick while his parents were attending secondary-education classes after work. I felt that this maintained her occupied and brought her happiness at the same time. And he was the cutest little boy.
One other thing that I can say about Mary Black is that she is the only person who I currently maintain a traditional stamped-mail correspondence with. I receive a letter in the mail about every four months or so – now handwritten with the help of her daughter Odete. I do not claim that all of my memories of my “second mother” are accurate; human memory is notoriously unreliable. But, for what it’s worth, this is exactly how I currently think of Mary Black.
Pittsburgh, November 23, 2007
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