Speaking in Tongues

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.

About the Author :
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 Dim pulos (Author) Mariana Dim pulos 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 Fundaci n Medife-Filba Novel Prize in the year of its publication. She taught at the University of Buenos Aires, and now lives in Germany.

Review :
A thoughtful, elegant dialogue… the rare treat of hearing an author and translator given nearly equal time and billing in open-ended conversation So enjoyable and stimulating, and it made me probe more deeply, or differently, my own relationship with the languages I grew up speaking [Speaking in Tongues] enhance[s] our appreciation of what’s actually involved in turning one language into another… a spry exchange… in absorbing detail Translation is treated here not as a mechanical process but a creative act fraught with philosophical complications...stimulating and occasionally surprising A mithril-blend of scholarship and artistry that will transform your ideas of language, translation, identity and possibly the universe. You could read this book in an hour. You could think about it for the rest of your life What happens when we consider translation not as a solitary act of perception but as a negotiation —one shaped by institutional constraints imposed from without or even by unequal relationships of global power? Speaking in Tongues, a dialogue between J.M. Coetzee and Mariana Dimópulos, repeatedly shifts the focus from individual choices to the structural forces that shape translation. One of the world's greatest novelists Thought-provoking 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