{"product_id":"on-self-translation-meditations-on-language-9781438471488","title":"On Self-Translation: Meditations on Language","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA fascinating collection of essays and conversations on the changing nature of language.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the 2018 \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eForeword\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e INDIES Book of the Year Awards in the Essay category \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom award-winning, internationally known scholar and translator Ilan Stavans comes \u003ci\u003eOn Self-Translation\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of essays and conversations on language in its multifaceted forms. Stavans discusses the way syntax is being restructured by texting and other technologies. He examines how the alphabet itself is being forgotten by the young, how finger snapping has taken on a new meaning, how the use of ellipses has lapsed, and how autocorrect is shaping the way we communicate. In an incisive meditation, he shows how translating one's own work reinvents oneself in another tongue. The volume includes tête-à-têtes with Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Wilbur and short-fiction master Lydia Davis, as well as dialogues on silence, multilingualism, poetry, and the durability of the classics. Stavans's explorations cover Spanish, English, Hebrew, Yiddish, and the hybrid lexicon of Spanglish. He muses on the meaning of foreignness and on living and dying in different languages. Among his primary concerns are the role and history of dictionaries and the extent to which the authority of language academies is less a reality than a delusion. He concludes with renditions into Spanglish of portions of \u003ci\u003eHamlet\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDon Quixote\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Little Prince\u003c\/i\u003e. The wide range of themes and engaging yet informed style confirm Stavans's status, in the words of the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, as \"Latin America's liveliest and boldest critic and most innovative cultural enthusiast.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book is freely available in an open access edition thanks to Knowledge Unlatched-an initiative that provides libraries and institutions with a centralized platform to support OA collections and from leading publishing houses and OA initiatives. Learn more at the Knowledge Unlatched website at https: \/\/www.knowledgeunlatched.org\/.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e State University of New York Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781438471488\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 284\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.10w x 0.70d","brand":"Ilan Stavans","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52472777244853,"sku":"9781438471488","price":31.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_cdfb9a9e-5e43-4d46-9d62-7c50b0ad11c0.jpg?v=1777444335","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/on-self-translation-meditations-on-language-9781438471488","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}