Dancing on Ropes: Translators and the Balance of History

RM79.90

Author: Anna Aslanyan
ISBN: 9781788162647
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Profile Books

In stock

SKU: 9781788162647 Categories: ,

Description

Full of lively stories … leaves the reader with an awed respect for the translator’s task’ Economist

Would Hiroshima have been bombed if Japanese contained a phrase meaning ‘no comment’? Is it alright for missionaries to replace the Bible’s ‘white as snow’ with ‘white as fungus’ in places where snow never falls? Who, or what, is Kuzma’s mother, and why was Nikita Khrushchev so threateningly obsessed with her (or it)? The course of diplomacy rarely runs smooth; without an invisible army of translators and interpreters, it could hardly run at all. Join veteran translator Anna Aslanyan to explore hidden histories of cunning and ambition, heroism and incompetence.

Meet the figures behind the notable events of history, from the Great Game to Brexit, and discover just how far a simple misunderstanding can go.

Additional information

Author

Anna Aslanyan

Format

Paperback

Publisher

Profile Books