Dancing on Ropes: Translators and the Balance of History

(Paperback, Main)

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Would Hiroshima have been bombed if Japanese contained a phrase meaning 'no comment' Is it alright for missionaries to replace the Bible's 'white as snow' with 'white as fungus' in places where snow never falls Who, or what, is Kuzma's mother, and why was Nikita Khrushchev so threateningly obsessed with her (or it)

The course of diplomacy rarely runs smooth; without an invisible army of translators and interpreters, it could hardly run at all. Join veteran translator Anna Aslanyan to explore hidden histories of cunning and ambition, heroism and incompetence. Meet the figures behind the notable events of history, from the Great Game to Brexit, and discover just how far a simple misunderstanding can go.

Reviews

'Translation is a matter of life and death - and not only because it is poorly paid. That's the thrilling, rather chilling, message of this wonderful history by translator and interpreter Anna Aslanyan, who blesses jaw-dropping and entertaining tales with an insider's insight' - Rosie Goldsmith

'Full of lively stories ... leaves the reader with an awed respect for the translator's task' - Economist

'Wide-angled and reader-friendly ... Aslanyan covers huge swathes of territory with a pleasantly light touch ... A singular achievement' - Boyd Tonkin

'Engaging ... Aslanyan's compendium of tales of interpreters at work spans not just the globe but historical experience ... [She] doesn't merely pay homage to her forebears in this honourable profession. Her deeper purpose is to get us to consider the future: to drive home the point that while this may be an era of machine-learning, it's too soon to dispense with the human professionals' - Bridget Kendall

'Ranges engagingly across period, geography and media ... Illumine[s] both the complexities of the craft and the thorny question of the translator's agency' - Sarah Watling

Author Bio

Anna Aslanyan is a journalist, literary translator, and public service interpreter. She grew up in Moscow, lives in London, and feels most at home in books.