Description
By (author) Coetzee, J.M.; By (author) Dimópulos, Mariana
Short /annotation:
In this dialogue between a Nobel Laureate and a leading translator, provocative ideas emerge about the evolution of language and the challenge of translation.
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This is a book about languages, what languages can and what they cannot do.
In this dialogue between a Nobel Laureate and a leading translator, provocative ideas emerge about the evolution of language and the challenge of translation.
Language, historically speaking, has always been slippery. Two dictionaries provide two different maps of the universe: which one is true, or are both false? Speaking in Tongues – taking the form of a dialogue between Nobel-Laureate novelist J. M. Coetzee and eminent translator Mariana Dimópulos – explores questions that have constantly plagued writers and translators, now more than ever. Among them:
- How can a translator liberate meanings imprisoned in the language of a text?
- Why is the masculine form dominant in gendered languages while the feminine is treated as a deviation?
- How should we counter the spread of monolingualism?
- Should a translator censor racist or misogynistic language?
- Does mathematics tell the truth about everything?
In the tradition of Walter Benjamin’s seminal essay ”The Task of the Translator”, Speaking in Tongues emerges as an engaging and accessible work of philosophy, shining a light on some of the most important linguistic and philological issues of our time.
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So enjoyable and stimulating, and it made me probe more deeply, or differently, my own relationship with the languages I grew up speaking
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Translation is treated here not as a mechanical process but a creative act fraught with philosophical complications…stimulating and occasionally surprising
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You could read this book in an hour. You could think about it for the rest of your life
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Thought-provoking
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Cerebral, far-reaching . . . Coetzee and Dimópulos engage comfortably and earnestly, imbuing the erudite conversation with a natural rhythm . . . littered with pearls of insight . . . a rewarding rumination on translation, language, and power
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Anything J.M. Coetzee writes deserves our full attention
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One of the world”s greatest novelists
Biographical note:
J.M. Coetzee (Author)
J.M. Coetzee’s work includes Waiting for the Barbarians, Life & Times of Michael K, Boyhood, Youth, Disgrace, Summertime, The Childhood of Jesus and, most recently, The Schooldays of Jesus. He was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.
Mariana Dimópulos (Author)
Mariana Dimópulos is an Argentine writer, translator, and teacher. Specializing in German philosophy and the work of Walter Benjamin, she has published four novels. The last of these, Quemar El Cielo (2019), was a finalist on the shortlist of the Fundación Medifé-Filba Novel Prize in the year of its publication. She taught at the University of Buenos Aires, and now lives in Germany.
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