Speaking in Tongues

Language, historically speaking, has always been slippery. Two dictionaries provide two different maps of the universe: which one is true, or are both false? Speaking in Tongues-taking the form of a dialogue between Nobel laureate novelist J. M. Coetzee and eminent translator Mariana Dimópulos-examines some of the most pressing linguistic issues that plague writers and translators well into the twenty-first century.



The authors inquire if one can truly love an acquired language, and they que...