Dissidents from Cardassia

[TerokNor]

There are some cardassian dissidents we see on DS9 and in the DS9 books and fanfiction.
So I just wondered, what kind of songs/ poems/ sayings ... can you find that would fit the believes of the dissidents, that would voice in a way their opinions/ hopes/ critics. about/ for Cardassia.


I just remembered these songs. They are both old...from the 70th or beginn 80th...and the voice of the lady is very rough and might need a bit to get used too, but the songtext of both songs is very nice and true.... timeless.

The first song is called "Soldiers". Forgive the bad translation.
Esepecally the line, that the soldiers dont have the loud spoken NO in their vocabulary anylonger sounds very cardassian.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pi3uHFtOvFg&feature=related

Jedes Land schwört seine Söhne auf das Feld der Ehre ein
mit Gewehr und Helm und stolzer Uniform.
Und im Wortschatz des Soldaten fehlt des lautgesproch'ne "Nein",
denn dies Wort entspricht nicht kämpferischer Norm.


Every country swears his sons into the field of honor
with rifle and helmet and proud uniform.
And in the vocabulary of the soldier is the loud spoken „No“ not existend,
because this word is not part of the fighting rule.

Einer starb für Adolf Hitler und für's Deutsche Vaterland,
und x ließ sterben in x.
Der den Namen Stalins hauchte, blieb bis heute unbekannt.
Alle starben sie für irgendein Programm.


One died for Adolf Hitler and for the German native country
and x led die for x. (because of a request I take this part out.)
The one that breathed Stalins name is unknown till today.
All of them died for some sheme.

Einer focht im Namen Christi, einer kämpft für Mohammed
und Parole wird Ersatz für den Verstand.
Einer tötet für Ideen, die er selber nicht versteht.
Ist er blind? Sieht er die Schrift nicht an der Wand?


One fenced in the name of Christ, one fights for Mohammed
and paroles replace the mind.
One kills for ideas, that he does not understand.
Is he blind? Can´t he see the writing on the wall?

An dem Denkmal für die Helden hat kein Toter je geweint,
ein gefallener Soldat kennt keinen Sieg.
Ob sie schwarz, gelb, rot, ob Weiße, hat sie eines doch geeint:
Jeder starb für seine Mächtigen im Krieg.


At the memorial for the heros no dead one ever cried,
a fallen soldier knows no victory.
No matter if black, yellow, red or white, one thing united them:
They all died for their superior in war.

Ein Soldat ist auch ein Vater, jemands Sohn und jemands Mann,
liebt die Mutter, liebt die Frau und liebt sein Kind.
Es ist Wahnsinn, daß ein Liebender auch Menschen töten kann,
die genauso wie er selber liebend sind.


A Soldier is also a father, someones son and someones husband,
loves his mother, loves his wife and loves his child.
It is insane, that one who can love can also kill people,
who love the same way than he.

Wenn Soldaten sich verbrüdern durch ein tausendfaches "Nein"
und sie reichen über'n Graben sich die Hand,
kann das Leben auf der Erde endlich menschenfreundlich sein,
und es braucht nicht mehr die Mahnung an der Wand.


If soldiers fraternize with each other, speaking together a mutual „No“
and give each other the hand over the rift,
the life on earth could finally be more human friendly
and we don´t need the warning on the wall.




The second song is called "Children", and one of the heart reaching songtextes that there are. The translation is still more worse than the other I am afraid. I tried to find an english version of the song, but could not find one...which is a pitty. As I still try to puzzle together childhood on cardassia and imagine it very strict, I find the song would fit as an opposing critic sort of...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcdkwdfz0GA&feature=related

Sind so kleine Hände
winzge Finger dran.
Darf man nie drauf schlagen
die zerbrechen dann.


Are so little hands
with so small fingers.
One must never beat them ,
else they break.

Sind so kleine Füße
mit so kleinen Zehn.
Darf man nie drauf treten
könn sie sonst nicht gehn.


Are so little feet
with so small toes.
One must never step on them,
else they can´t walk.

Sind so kleine Ohren
scharf, und ihr erlaubt.
Darf man nie zerbrüllen
werden davon taub.


Are so little ears
sharp and if you dont mind.
One must never yell at them,
else they get deaf.

Sind so kleine Münder
sprechen alles aus.
Darf man nie verbieten
kommt sonst nichts mehr raus.


Are so small mouths,
speaking always the truth.
One must never ban them,
else nothing comes out of them anylonger.

Sind so klare Augen
die noch alles sehn.
Darf man nie verbinden
könn sie nichts verstehn.


Are so clear eyes,
that still see everything.
One must never bind them,
else they can´t understand.

Sind so kleine Seelen
offen und ganz frei.
Darf man niemals quälen
gehn kaputt dabei.


Are so little souls,
open and so free.
One must never torture them,
else they get destroyed.

Ist son kleines Rückgrat
sieht man fast noch nicht.
Darf man niemals beugen
weil es sonst zerbricht.


Is such a small backbone,
nearly not to see yet.
One must never bend it,
else it breaks.

Grade, klare Menschen
wärn ein schönes Ziel.
Leute ohne Rückrat
hab'n wir schon zuviel.


Straight, clear humans,
would be a nice goal.
People without backbone
we have all ready enough.


TerokNor

 

[Deranged Nasat]

The Cardassians have always been one of my favourite races in Trek, in part because they capture perfectly many of the fears and concerns I have with humans in reality in a way little else- perhaps nothing else- ever has. And "A Stitch in Time" by Andrew Robinson is my favourite novel, full stop- in part because it didn't tell me anything I didn't already believe, but told it in such a moving and engaging way. I've said in the past that if someone wanted to understand me personally, the best place to start would be to read that book.

I wish I could speak/understand German, so I could truly appreciate the songs you posted in their original words. Thanks for sharing them.

I find it interesting- and enlightening- that pretty much everyone around here who appreciates the Cardassians feels that attraction largely due to the tragedy of a great civilization preying upon itself so intensely and unapologetically. Such an intelligent and promising race, overcome with fear and self-loathing and glorifying in their own self-predation. We all see the greatness in Cardassia, and that makes the self-aggression even more painful. And I think we all- in whatever personal way- see in Cardassia a warning for our own people.

I'm not too good, personally, at articulating the lessons I feel must be learnt, and of course those lessons will differ from person to person (I can't expect others to see things quite my way, of course), but I feel quite strongly that there is much to consider in our grey-scaled friends.

I also think that the Cardassian dissidants- Lang, Ghemor, etc, are very close to my personal definition of true heroes.

 

[TerokNor]

Yes, exactly... and...I know I mention that name in each post, sorry... but in Damars story arc, we see something else...hope. Hope that people can change, that they can overcome hatred, no matter how blind and hatefilled they were before.

Know what, when I just thing about those songs... what makes them even more touching... I think she wrote them in the DDR .. (how you call it in English GDR?)...well you know East Germany before Germany got united again.... and to write such songs under that regime... that was courage.

So you know any fitting songs, poems or sayings?

TerokNor

 

[Deranged Nasat]

^ I'll have a think about it, and see if I can find any.

For now, and for starters, I'll use my old stand-by of a "Babylon Five" quote, one that doesn't capture anything Cardassian as such, but seems along the right lines as a critique of a culture obsessed with war and militirism:

We are all born as molecules in the heart of stars - molecules that do not understand politics, or policies, or differences. Over a billion years, we foolish molecules forget who we are and where we come from. In desperate acts of ego, we give ourselves names, fight over lines on maps, and pretend that our light is better than anyone else's. The flame reminds us of the piece of those stars that live on inside us. The spark that says: you should know better. The flame also reminds us that life is precious, as each flame is unique, and once it is gone out, it is gone forever, and there will never be another quite like it.

So many candles will go out tonight. I wonder some days if we can see anything at all.

I could sort of see Lang writing something like that, were she a more overtly spiritual type...maybe some Oralian would write something along those lines.

 

[Rek]

Its hard to explain why Cardassians are my favorite, but I'll give it a go.

I see Cardassians sort of like I see tragic hero's. There's a lot of respect for them from me, due largely to the lessons you get from both their flaws and the things about them that are admiral.

The way they see families for one thing - how they take care of their parents like they take care of their children, the huge respect they have for family. The downside to that is the children whom don't have families(or get shunned by their family, which we see with Garak. Garak is actually amazingly strong for what he was really going through the whole time.) don't have a place in Cardassia and I'm guessing you get your ranks from this which also isn't a upside.

Like someone pointed out - we get to see Damar fight for their freedom, and learn from their past with the help of the people they oppressed before.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

My fanfic should stand as answer enough as to what I think about Cardassian dissidents. I would go into more detail...but there are reasons why this time I would much rather not.