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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Dictionary of Untranslatables

Duende.

5 comments:

  1. Your opinion here (and perhaps also in re the last post) is important. Any good?

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  2. He could have cited me. Or is that just the dreaded scholar's ego?

    I haven't read Sawyer's book yet.

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  3. He probably should have. But I'll take that as an endorsement anyway. I noticed that the same dictionary also (an not surprisingly) has an entry on Dasein. It allows me to say, "Both D and d appear in the Dictionary of Untranslatables…" and then, of course, go on to translate them.

    One thing I took away from AL is that you think not translating duende is a bit of a cop-out, at least sometimes. I definitely think about Dasein. It's all part of the kitsch of the thing.

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  4. If Dasein were absent from this book it would be worthless. I like the idea of a dictionary of untranslatable words and concepts.

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  5. I agree, it wouldn't be the book it is without Dasein. I think I like the idea of this book in a sort of Borgesque way. The Library of Babel couldn't exist either.

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