Babbling Barbarians: How Translators Keep Us Civilized

Ever heard people say things like, "A translation is no substitute for the original" or "Humor can't be translated into another language"? In this thought-provoking book, based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Princeton University Professor David Bellos, author of the bestselling book, Is That A Fish in Your Ear? Translation and the Meaning of Everything, many fascinating features of language and translation are explored at length.

This carefully-edited book includes an introduction, Teaching a Man to Fish, and questions for discussion at the end of each chapter:

I. Introductory Musings- On Perec, Chomsky, and other matters
II. An Illustrative Capture- Learning from The Great Escape
III. Getting the Joke- Translating Humour
IV. Probing the Foreign- Dickens, word order, and Anglo-Italian gibberish
V. Films in Translation- Subtitles, dubbing, and "The Bergman Effect"
VI. The Varieties in English- In search of a middle form
VII. Asserting Our Individuality- Language as an expression of our identity
VIII. Translation and Meaning- Extending the Principle of Effability
IX. Mathematics and Music- Pushing the boundaries of "language-like"
X. Language and Thought- Plato, Hopi, and jumping mind-grooves
XI. Paying Respects- Valuing the translator in our midst