Full Description
A captivating journey into the intricate realms of language, identity, and translation:Talking in Tonguesintertwines personal anecdotes with profound cultural insights and literary reflections.
InTalking in Tongues: Essays on Language and Literature, esteemed translator Peter Wortsman invites readers on an insightful exploration of what it means to navigate a multilingual world. This compelling collection blends memoir and literary analysis, offering a unique perspective on the transformative power of language and the nuances of cross-cultural communication. Drawing on his own life as the child of Viennese-Jewish refugees, Wortman delves into the complexities of identity shaped by diverse linguistic landscapes.
Set against the backdrop of varying cultural experiences, the essays delve into issues such as the immigrant experience and the profound impact of literature fostering connection and understanding among cultures. Wortsman's reflections illuminate the challenges and triumphs of embracing multiple identities and communities grappling with cultural displacement.
Talking in Tonguesis essential reading for anyone intrigued by the intersections of language, culture, and personal identity. It promises readers a richer understanding of how literature can bridge divides and celebrate diversity.
Contents
Contents
Smuggling Secrets Across Time and Space, A Foreword
I. Talking in Tongues
I Harbor a Stillborn Scribe of the German Tongue in Me
Of Sublime Ecstasy and Guttural Disgust: My German Language
I am a French Irregular Verb
Meditation in Translation: Transcending Ego and Transmitting Voice
Talking in Tongues: Translating Others and Myself
The Converted Tongue
II Making Bones Sing
Don't Burn What You Don't Understand!
(German Humanist Johannes Reuchlin's Defense of the Talmud)
Making Bones Sing: Tales of the German Imagination
Facing Fears and Furies: The Unexpurgated Brothers Grimm
The Displaced Person's Guide to Nowhere:
The Forked Tongue and Divided Loyalties of Adelbert von Chamisso
All Fall Down: The Collapsing House of Cards of Heinrich von Kleist
Facing the Music: The Melodious Imaginings of E.T.A. Hoffmann
Return to Sender: The Letters of Rahel Levin Varnhagen
Hiking Through Heaven and Hell: Reflections on Heinrich Heine's Travel Pictures
To Make a Long Story Short: The Prose of Peter Altenberg
In the Caves of the Unconscious: K is for Kafka
Inverted Anonymity: The Mindful Farce of Mynona
Robert Musil's Posthumous Papers Revisited
Preserving the Imprint of the Ineffable in Musil's Prose
Orpheus Raising Hell: Memories of the late Aleksander Kulisiewicz
Translating the Surreal (Or Doing the DADA dance): On Coming up
with an English Take on Kurt Schwitters' Verbal Collage "The Onion"
Qui es-tu, Federman: An Intimate Reading of La fourure de ma tante Rachel
Six Fragments in Pursuit of Fiction's Roots and Fruits
Small Wonder (a Reflection on the Short Form)
Language Belongs to All its Practitioners (An Afterword)
