Dancing on Ropes

Translators and the Balance of History

Anna Aslanyan

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Hardback

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English

Profile
20 July 2021

linguistics; History: specific events & topics; Diplomacy

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's hard to see how it could run at all. But though such go-betweens tend to be overlooked, even despised, the subtlest of them have achieved a remarkable degree of influence.

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.

By: Anna Aslanyan
Imprint: Profile
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Main
Dimensions: Height: 218mm, Width: 140mm, Spine: 36mm
Weight: 442g
ISBN: 9781788162630
ISBN 10: 1788162633
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 20 July 2021
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , General/trade , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print

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.

Reviews for Dancing on Ropes: Translators and the Balance of History

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. Good translation is ... a refined art -- Bridget Kendall * Literary Review * Joyous ... A real treat -- Robert Fox * Reaction * This richly stocked treasure-house of stories about the amazing exploits of translators introduces us to a huge cast of heroes. With engaging lucidity, Anna Aslanyan explains the complexities and conundrums that language professionals have grappled with over the ages, showing just how much skill, courage, ingenuity and wit they have deployed to keep the peace, spread the word and foster conversation among the peoples of the world -- David Bellos, author * Is That A Fish In Your Ear? * A colourful tribute to the translators and interpreters slogging away throughout history, oiling - or clogging - the wheels of diplomacy and culture. Flitting from saints to cheats, drudges to adventurers, pedants to geniuses, Aslanyan sketches a lively history of an underrated art. Highly enjoyable -- Gaston Dorren, author * Lingo *