Speaking in Tongues

JM Coetzee author Mariana Dimópulos author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Vintage Publishing

Published:22nd May '25

Should be back in stock very soon

Speaking in Tongues cover

This is a book about languages, what languages can and what they cannot do.

In this dialogue between a Nobel Laureate and a leading translator, provocative ideas emerge about the evolution of language and the challenge of translation.

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 - explores questions that have constantly plagued writers and translators, now more than ever. Among them:


  • How can a translator liberate meanings imprisoned in the language of a text?
  • Why is the masculine form dominant in gendered languages while the feminine is treated as a deviation?
  • How should we counter the spread of monolingualism?
  • Should a translator censor racist or misogynistic language?
  • Does mathematics tell the truth about everything?



In the tradition of Walter Benjamin’s seminal essay 'The Task of the Translator', Speaking in Tongues 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.

So enjoyable and stimulating, and it made me probe more deeply, or differently, my own relationship with the languages I grew up speaking -- Sunjeev Sahota, Booker-shortlisted author of THE CHINA ROOM
[Speaking in Tongues] enhance[s] our appreciation of what’s actually involved in turning one language into another… a spry exchange… in absorbing detail * Observer *
Translation is treated here not as a mechanical process but a creative act fraught with philosophical complications...stimulating and occasionally surprising * Wall Street Journal *
A mithril-blend of scholarship and artistry that will transform your ideas of language, translation, identity and possibly the universe. -- Junot Diaz
You could read this book in an hour. You could think about it for the rest of your life * Kirkus Reviews *
One of the world's greatest novelists * Financial Times *
Thought-provoking * 4Columns *
Cerebral, far-reaching . . . Coetzee and Dimópulos engage comfortably and earnestly, imbuing the erudite conversation with a natural rhythm . . . littered with pearls of insight . . . a rewarding rumination on translation, language, and power * Publishers Weekly *
Anything J.M. Coetzee writes deserves our full attention * Evening Standard, on The Death of Jesus *

ISBN: 9781787305137

Dimensions: 207mm x 38mm x 17mm

Weight: 226g

144 pages