If This Be Magic
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If This Be Magic

If This Be Magic


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About the Book

How do you rebuild a 400-year-old topical joke in a new culture and with none of the same words?

How does Romeo and Juliet's first meeting unfold if they can't mention pilgrims?


What does Taming of the Shrew sound like in a language where every noun has a gender?

Why might Hamlet be even longer in Japanese?

And why are Lady Macbeth's pronouns such a problem?

What does it mean to translate Shakespeare? When we change all the poetry, all the wordplay, all the syntax - all the words! - is it still Shakespeare? And is it still any good?

Daniel Hahn, seasoned translator and Shakespeare fanatic, will change the way you think about language itself. Ranging widely across Shakespeare's works, and across the world's languages, this book explores what translators have done and what is possible.

No knowledge of any particular language is required, though a bit of patience for the nerdiest of close reading is desirable. This micro-attention to language will reveal some of the complexities of Shakespeare; and by using his work as its subject, with the extraordinary pressures that he puts on language, it will reveal even more about the craft of translation, and the power of words themselves.



About the Author :

Daniel Hahn is an award-winning translator, author and editor of numerous fiction and non-fiction works. He is one of the editors of The Ultimate Book Guide, the first volume of which won the Blue Peter Book Award. Other titles include Catching Fire: A Translation Diary and a new edition of The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. He has been a judge for prestigious international prizes including the International Booker Prize, the IMPAC Dublin Award and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. He was previously chair of the Society of Authors and on the board of trustees for English PEN.

danielhahn.co.uk



Review :
I've just finished, and loved, If this Be Magic. It's a fresh and vivid way to think about Shakespeare; it's so witty and knowledgeable, so alive to the ways in which language resists reduction. It feels like attending the most fascinating lecture of the term; like learning made swift and sharp and generous A wonderful book, erudite and enjoyable. I love learning new things while having an excellent time. Danny is a brilliant writer Daniel Hahn is a remarkable translator, writer and editor, a dedicated supporter of literature and knowledge, and he has written this gem of a book which is clearly the outcome of decades of hard work and dedication, and passion, really, for the art of storytelling A lifetime of love and learning distilled - what a joy and a privilege to read Praise for Daniel Hahn: 'Hahn is so smart and neurotic and funny' A distillation of knowledge of a depth and breadth that makes you boggle anew at what one book can do A substantial achievement


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Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781837261130
  • Publisher: Canongate Books
  • Publisher Imprint: Canongate Books
  • ISBN-10: 183726113X
  • Publisher Date: 09 Apr 2026


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