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Speaking in Tongues
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--examines some of the most pressing linguistic issues that plague writers and translators well into the twenty-first century.
The authors address questions that we must answer in order to understand contemporary society. They inquire if one can truly love an acquired language, and they question why certain languages, like Spanish, have gender differences built into them. They examine the threat of monolingualism and ask how we can counter, if at all, the global spread of the English language, which seems to maraud like a colonial power. They question whether it should be the duty of the translator to remove morally objectionable, misogynistic, or racist language. And in the conclusion, Coetzee even speculates whether it's only mathematics that can tell the truth about everything.
Drawing from decades of experience in the craft of language, both Dimópulos and Coetzee face the reality, as did Walter Benjamin over a century ago in his seminal essay "The Task of the Translator," that when it comes to self-expression, some things will always get lost in translation. Speaking in Tongues finally 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.
The authors address questions that we must answer in order to understand contemporary society. They inquire if one can truly love an acquired language, and they question why certain languages, like Spanish, have gender differences built into them. They examine the threat of monolingualism and ask how we can counter, if at all, the global spread of the English language, which seems to maraud like a colonial power. They question whether it should be the duty of the translator to remove morally objectionable, misogynistic, or racist language. And in the conclusion, Coetzee even speculates whether it's only mathematics that can tell the truth about everything.
Drawing from decades of experience in the craft of language, both Dimópulos and Coetzee face the reality, as did Walter Benjamin over a century ago in his seminal essay "The Task of the Translator," that when it comes to self-expression, some things will always get lost in translation. Speaking in Tongues finally 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.
Book Details
- Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
- Publish Date: May 6th, 2025
- Pages: 144
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 8.10in - 5.60in - 0.70in - 0.60lb
- EAN: 9781324096450
- Categories: • Linguistics - Sociolinguistics• Language• Anthropology - Cultural & Social
About the Author
Coetzee, J. M.: - Born in Cape Town, South Africa, J. M. Coetzee is the author of more than twenty books, including The Pole; Waiting for the Barbarians; Life and Times of Michael K, for which Coetzee was awarded the Booker Prize; Boyhood: Scenes from a Provincial Life; and several essay collections. With his novel Disgrace, Coetzee became the first author to win the Booker Prize twice. In 2003, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Dimópulos, Mariana: - Mariana Dimópulos is an Argentine writer, translator, and teacher specializing in German philosophy and the work of Walter Benjamin. She has published four novels, including Quemar El Cielo (2019), which was a finalist for the Fundación Medifé Filba Novel Prize. She is a professor at the University of Saarland and the University of Halle. She lives in Berlin.
Praise for this book
It is a thrill to eavesdrop on J. M. Coetzee and Mariana Dimópulos, whose spellbinding exchange of ideas touches on every aspect of translation as it has shaped their lives and their art. Speaking in Tongues is an intelligent, moving, and supremely humane act of criticism that reveals just how difficult and wondrous it can be to inhabit a language that is not your own.--Merve Emre, Contributing Writer "The New Yorker"
The kind of book you get once in a lifetime, Speaking in Tongues is a mithril-blend of scholarship and artistry that will transform your ideas of language, translation, identity, and possibly the universe.--Junot Diaz, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Dialogue has, through the ages, been the archetypal form for intellectual inquiry, and J. M. Coetzee and Mariana Dimópulos remind us why. These are two extraordinarily well-stocked and agile minds and they're thinking aloud here. For anyone engaged by the workings of language, the results are truly gratifying. Page after page is layered with observation, elaboration, qualification, and provocation.--K. Anthony Appiah, Author of The Lies That Bind: Rethinking Identity
From a variety of perspectives, J. M. Coetzee and Mariana Dimópulos take up, in both abstract and practical terms, such matters as the linguistic hegemony of English, gender, and the role and duty of the translator. Their conversation investigates language in compelling, astute, and often surprising ways.--Ann Goldstein, Translator of Elena Ferrante and Primo Levi