Alongside George Steiner’s After Babel, a seminal work that furthers translation scholarship.
A broad and vital philosophy of translation as a decolonizing force that serves to build a common humanity.
Starting from the premise that all human languages are of equal value, noted Senegalese philosopher Diagne sets out to demonstrate the far-reaching consequences of translation and how it can foster a common humanity. He writes, “Through the work of translation, languages come to know each other. From language to language.” Recognizing and pushing against ideas of cultural dominance, Diagne looks at how the legacy of colonialism has been embedded in texts, as translations, even in “translations” of visual language. Exploring the example of appropriation of African artifacts in modernist art—from Matisse, Picasso, and other avant-garde artists—he concludes that “primitivism is a Eurocentric and lazy concept.” Other asymmetries between languages and cultures have resulted in the predominance of certain philosophical concepts that have implications for the grammar of philosophy, the metaphysics of being, and logic. For example, Arabic grammarians have criticized translators of Aristotle for trying to “pass off categories of thought in a broad sense, [when they were] merely categories inherent in the language spoken by the Stagirite.” In another example, he unpacks how a metaphysical “notion of being would be entirely different” in the West African tonal language Ewe. The book itself is intertextual, emphasizing the collaborative act of knowledge building, as Diagne traces the evolution and lineage of his thinking in elegant prose. The author cites numerous late cultural theorists and philosophers, including Henri Bergson, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, and Léopold Sédar Senghor, as well as present-day figures, among them Kwame Anthony Appiah, Philippe Dagen, and Sandra Laugier.
Alongside George Steiner’s After Babel, a seminal work that furthers translation scholarship.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781635423938
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Other Press
Review Posted Online: June 12, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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