Speaking in Tongues

De: Mariana Dimópulos, J. M. Coetzee

Narrado por: M.L. Sanchez

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 question why certain languages, like Spanish, have gender differences built into them. They examine the threat of monolingualism and ask how we can counter, if at all, the global spread of the English language, which seems to maraud like a colonial power. They question whether it should be the duty of the translator to remove morally objectionable language. And in the conclusion, Coetzee even speculates whether it's only mathematics that can tell the truth about everything.

Drawing from decades of experience in the craft of language, both Dimópulos and Coetzee face the reality that when it comes to self-expression, some things will always get lost in translation. Speaking in Tongues finally emerges as an engaging and accessible work of philosophy, shining a light on some of the most important linguistic and philological issues of our time.

©2025 J. M. Coetzee (with respect only to the exchanges written by J. M. Coetzee); Mariana Dimopulos (with respect only to the exchanges written by Mariana Dimopulos) (P)2025 Highbridge Audio

Intriguing topic but distracting narration

Fascinating discussion of translation: its challenges and aspects but I found myself distracted by the narrator’s verbal peculiarities such as dropping the T from words like Latin, Britain, forgotten and written, to name just a few. She also had some strange pronunciations of words such as illusory (IL lu sorry, instead of il LUS sor ree). When you find yourself counting such things and writing them down you have stumbled upon a narrator who should find another career path.