The rise of translation and the death of foreign language learning
Arundhati Roy talks about literary translation, the subject of her WG Sebald lecture, with Preti Taneja, and Anne McElvoy investigates the UK's apparent language learning crisis.
Arundhati Roy, Meena Kandasamy and Preti Taneja share thoughts about translation. Plus Anne McElvoy will be joined by Professor Nicola McLelland and Vicky Gough of the British Councl to examine why, in UK schools and universities, the number of students learning a second language is collapsing - whilst the number of languages spoken in Britain is rising and translated fiction is becoming more available and popular.
The Booker prize winner Arundhati Roy is giving the W G Sebald lecture at the British Library about translation. You can find a 45' conversation with her about her latest novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness on the Free Thinking website
Meena Kandasamy translates from Tamil and her first poetry collection Touch was translated into 5 languages. Her latest novel When I Hit You looks at domestic abuse. It is on the shortlist for the 2018 Women's Prize for Fiction and you can find a collection of interviews with the 6 shortlisted writers at bbc.co.uk/Freethinking
Preti Taneja is a New Generation Thinker whose first novel We That Are Young is a setting of King Lear in Delhi. It's been shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize for New Fiction. She is taking part in the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival at the British Library on Saturday June 9th.
Producer: Zahid Warley.
Last on
Free Thinking interviews the 2018 Shortlist for the Women’s Prize for Fiction
Elif Batuman, Imogen Hermes Gowar, Kamila Shamsie, Jesmyn Ward, Jessie Greengrass...
Arundhati Roy
The Man Booker prize winning author and campaigner is in conversation with Philip Dodd.
Podcast: The rise of translation & the death of foreign language learning
Arundhati Roy, Meena Kandasamy and Preti Taneja on translation. With Anne McElvoy
Clip
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Anne McElvoy |
Interviewed Guest | Arundhati Roy |
Interviewed Guest | Meena Kandasamy |
Interviewed Guest | Preti Taneja |
Interviewed Guest | Nicola McLelland |
Interviewed Guest | Vicky Gough |
Producer | Zahid Warley |
Broadcast
- Tue 5 Jun 2018 22:00´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
Featured in...
Japanese Culture—Free Thinking
From the Tale of Genjii to Godzilla, Kenzaburo Oe to Yoko Tawada …
Prose and Poetry—Free Thinking
Fact, fiction, key authors and contemporary voices from around the world
New Research—Free Thinking
Will Hutton, Lucy O’Brien, Richard Sennett on how topics are taught + campus free speech?
Arts
Creativity, performance, debate
Discussions and talks from the Free Thinking Festival 2019
Click to listen to discussions, talks and music as the Free Thinking Festival 2019 Gets Emotional
CLICK to LISTEN & SEE programmes from the Free Thinking Festival 2018: The One & the Many
CLICK to LISTEN & SEE all programmes, images, clips & features from 2017's festival
Free Thinking Festival 2017: The Speed of Life