Babel : adventures in translation /
This innovative collection of essays shows how linguistic diversity has inspired people across time and cultures to embark on adventurous journeys through the translation of texts. It tells the story of how ideas have travelled via the medium of translation into different languages and cultures, foc...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford :
The Bodleian Library,
2019.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | This innovative collection of essays shows how linguistic diversity has inspired people across time and cultures to embark on adventurous journeys through the translation of texts. It tells the story of how ideas have travelled via the medium of translation into different languages and cultures, focusing on illustrated examples ranging from Greek papyri through illuminated manuscripts and fine early books to fantasy languages (such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Elvish), the search for a universal language and the challenges of translation in multicultural Britain. Starting with the concept of Babel itself, which illustrates the early cultural prominence of multilingualism, and with an illustration of a Mediterranean language of four millennia ago (Linear A) which still resists deciphering, it goes on to examine how languages have interacted with each other in different contexts. The book also explores the multilingual transmission of key texts in religion, science (the history of Euclid), animal fable (from Aesop in Greek to Beatrix Potter via La Fontaine, with some fascinating Southeast Asian books), fairy-tale, fantasy and translations of the great Greek epics of Homer. Exhibition: Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, UK (02-06.2019). |
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| Item Description: | Consists of essays supplementing the exhibition "Babel: adventures in translation," held at the Bodleian from 15 February 15 to 2 June 2019 , written by the curators and illustrated with images from the Bodleian's collections. |
| Physical Description: | 176 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| ISBN: | 185124509X 9781851245093 |