Monday, April 05, 2021

Beers & Books LXVI – Bora Ćosić

 

To my surprise,
obviously none of his works
got translated into English.

Bora Ćosić
* 5 April 1932

4 comments:

  1. I wonder why not? You obviously value his work, and so much that is arguably less valuable is translated.

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    Replies
    1. Ah, I got something wrong, when in the English Wikipedia entry looking at his works. Sorry.
      So far his "Tutori" from 1978 – for many years thought to be untranslatable – have only been translated into German six years ago.

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  2. Language is a real eye opener. It is a challenge when there are words that don't have a direct translation, for example the Scottish Gaelic word 'ann' - the nearest you can translate it is 'something that is in existence'. Translating isn't just exchanging one set of words for another. I think it is a huge scholarly thing to undertake.

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    Replies
    1. Quite, Mark. And it needs empathy, the wish and ability to slip into someone else's thoughts.
      To translate a black woman's poem, one does not need to be a black woman, though.

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