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Shopping with us is 100% safe. Guaranteed. (We'll set one up for you) View my Wish List After Babel : Aspects of Language and Translation by George Steiner List Price: $18.95 Our Price: $17.05 You Save: $1.90 (10%) Availability: Usually ships within 24 hours. See larger photo Paperback - 576 pages 3rd edition (September 1998) Oxford Univ Pr (Trade); ISBN: 0192880934 ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.20 x 7.77 x 5.23 Amazon.com Sales Rank: 38,934 Avg. Customer Rating: Number of Reviews: 4 Customers who bought this book also bought: Theories of Translation : An Anthology of Essays from Dryden to Derrida by Rainer Schulte(Editor), John Biguenet(Editor) The Craft of Translation (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing and Publishing) by John Biguenet(Editor), Rainer Schulte(Editor) The Scandals of Translation : Towards an Ethics of Difference by Lawrence Venuti Language and Silence : Essays on Language, Literature, and the Inhuman by George Steiner Explore similar items Auctions and zShops sellers and our other stores recommend: STEINER, GEORGE.: No Passion Spent. (Price: $36.00) Editorial Reviews Synopsis When it first appeared in 1975, AFTER BABEL created a sensation, quickly establishing itself as both a controversial and seminal study of literary theory. Taking issue with modern linguistics, author George Steiner finds the root of the "Babel problem" in our deep instinct for privacy and territory, noting that every people has in its language a unique body of shared secrecy. This new edition updates the bibliography and includes Russian and Eastern European material. All Customer Reviews Avg. Customer Rating: Write an online review and share your thoughts with other shoppers! 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Translation as an insight into the language, July 30, 2000 Reviewer: Elena Chavez (see more about me) from Scottsdale, AZ USA For those who expect to find a list of practical instructions on translation methods or a review on the history of translation, the book "After Babel" by Professor George Steiner will be a bit of a surprise. Because you won't find anything of the kind. On the contrary, it deals with the more general linguistic and philosophic notions - such as meaning, context, historic relativity, cultural aspects of the language and literature - to bring up the nature of the art of translation and language. The author treats translation not as an aquired skill only, but rather as a natural ability of a human being to perceive and interpret one's native language as well as a foreign tongue. Professor Steiner employs numerous examples of works of literature and translation that appeared in the 18th century and still are major guidelines for both scholars and readers. Throughout the book we come across multiple references to the works of ancient Greek scholars who defined the linguistic areas of interest for the generations of scholars to come. This work - even though it does not provide us with "how-tos" - is of major importance to the linguistic community and expecially to translators, since it opens up the physical curtain of the language and brings us behind the words and structure. Was this review helpful to you?     1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Maybe the most profound book on the nature of language ever, June 8, 2000 Reviewer: Julius Guzy (see more about me) from Northern Ireland Steiner examines questions of how we understand and use language by focussing upon the difficulties of translation. Many readers brought up on a coding theory view of language may find the book's thesis difficult to understand and thereby experience the problem at first hand. Steiner takes a view of language antithetic to the rule governed coding system espoused by Chomsky. He does not suggest a mechanism for language understanding. Instead he provides a myriad examples of cases which the coding theory approach could never hope to account for. In order to understand you have to try and work out what the other is saying. Language facilitates but is not the prerequisite of communication. An absolute tour de force of a book. Was this review helpful to you?     2 of 4 people found the following review helpful: A narrowly hermeneutic account of language, May 5, 2000 Reviewer: A reader from Switzerland The author has a very particular point of view of what the study of language should be like, based on hermeneutics. From this basis, he fiercely criticizes what he calls the Chomskyan view of language. However, the ideas ascribed to Chomsky have little if anything to do with what Chomsky intends. For most of the ideas ascribed to Chomsky, no references are given, and as far as they are to be had at all, I guess they will all be from the 1960s. This is not a proper basis to criticize the Chomskyan view of language and certainly not in such a scornful, sour tone. The book really put me off. Was this review helpful to you?     8 of 9 people found the following review helpful: an Insightful Look at Translation, April 1, 2000 Reviewer: A reader from Provo, Utah George Steiner takes the reader through the history, theory and justification of translation in this challenging book. His book is divided into six sections. In Understanding as Translation, he explains that since language is used to imperfectly express thoughts and ideas, all speech is translation. Language and Gnosis addresses the reasons behind the surprising and seemingly counterintuitive diversity of languages. Word and Object covers a variety of subjects, including the sounds native to a language and the purpose (if any) of falsity in expression. The Claims of Theory traces the history of translation theory, with some very helpful comments on Chomskyan linguistics. The Hermeneutic Motion gives examples and detailed analysis of various triumphs and failures of translation. Topologies of Culture closes with a look at all imitative art as translation and a conjecture about the future need for translation in light of English as a world language. Although this book is written in English, the author cites text in French and German extensively, and a reader unfamiliar with these languages will miss out on some passages. Professor Steiner's selected bibliography and extensive footnotes offer a decade's worth of further reading for those who are interested in following up on some of the ideas. I hightly recommend this incredible book! Was this review helpful to you?     Customers who bought titles by George Steiner also bought titles by these authors: William Shakespeare Harold Bloom Jacques Barzun John Drury Lawrence Venuti Look for similar books by subject: Browse for books in: Books / Subjects / Reference / Words & Language / Linguistics Books / Subjects / Reference / Words & Language / Vocabulary Search for books by subject: Translating and interpreting Language and languages Translation And Interpretation Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy Language Arts & Disciplines Linguistics Vocabulary i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ... I have read this book, and I want to review it. Correct errors and omissions in this listing.