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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Dictionary of Untranslatables

Duende.

5 comments:

Thomas said...

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

Jonathan said...

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

I haven't read Sawyer's book yet.

Thomas said...

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.

Jonathan said...

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

Thomas said...

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.