The Night of Ideas 2021: Babel, After Bandung: Translation (In French with English subtitles)
Two renowned philosophers, Souleymane Bachir Diagne and Barbara Cassin, engage in a lively transatlantic dialogue about the meaning and importance of translation in the world “after Babel”-when the Bible says God splintered human speech into different languages and scattered humans over the earth to punish them for their pride-and “after Bandung”-when African and American states convened in Indonesia in 1955 and denounced all forms of colonialism, including linguistic imperialism, and insisted on equal respect for all cultures and languages. Diagne and Cassin explore how translation can “close the distance” among speakers of the world’s many languages, and they spar about whether, given the plurality of cultures, there is such a thing as universalism.
Produced by Columbia University Maison Française for The Night of Ideas 2021 streamed on January 28: a virtual 24-hour marathon of philosophical debate and artistic performances coordinated by the Institut Français, Paris, and co-produced by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.
6 окт 2024
