Emily Wilson: belief

Transcript context

…What do you think translation teaches us, or you in particular? Say I were to talk with an ancient historian about Periclean Athens. Or I could speak with you, and you’ve done translating of ancient Greek or of Homer’s time. What perspectives are you likely to have on those periods that, say, an ancient historian would not? What kind of knowledge do you end up specializing in, other than the translation itself? I would say I have a pretty deep knowledge of word choice and poetics and style and literary form of each of the texts I’ve studied. I wouldn’t say — But what will that cash out into? Like, if I ask you, what might you understand about ancient Athens that an ancient historian would not as well? What would you say concretely?…

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