On his book Translating Happiness: A Cross-Cultural Lexicon of Well-Being
Cover Interview of February 27, 2019
Lastly
I firmly believe that untranslatable words
have the power to uplift and alter our reality in numerous ways. To begin with,
they provide a window onto lives in other cultures, revealing something about
their traditions, values, and experiences. In this fragmented and divisive age,
that kind of empathic connection is vital. But these words are not only
valuable in what they tell us about other places, other people. They can also
illuminate our own lives, providing us with new language to articulate
our experiences. They can even lead us into unglimpsed existential territory,
revealing new dimensions of life, of ourselves. So, I would encourage everyone to
enquire into this mysterious realm of untranslatability, doing so with a spirit
of respect and gratitude for the cultures that created these varied words.
Beyond the book, I hope that readers will
take the time to look at the evolving lexicography on my website or on the
myriad other website dedicated to this topic. And go further still, chat to
people who speak other languages, asking them what discoveries are to be found
in their lexicons. You may become transported to new worlds; at the very least
you’ll probably have an interesting conversation. Language is a wonderful and
mysterious thing, and untranslatable words are among its most profound secrets.
A world of discovery awaits.
The dominant premise in evolution and economics is that a person is being loyal to natural law if he or she attends to self’s interest and welfare before being concerned with the needs and demands of family or community. The public does not realize that this statement is not an established scientific principle but an ethical preference. Nonetheless, this belief has created a moral confusion among North Americans and Europeans because the evolution of our species was accompanied by the disposition to worry about kin and the collectives to which one belongs.Jerome Kagan, Interview of September 17, 2009
[T]he Holocaust transformed our whole way of thinking about war and heroism. War is no longer a proving ground for heroism in the same way it used to be. Instead, war now is something that we must avoid at all costs—because genocides often take place under the cover of war. We are no longer all potential soldiers (though we are that too), but we are all potential victims of the traumas war creates. This, at least, is one important development in the way Western populations envision war, even if it does not always predominate in the thinking of our political leaders.Carolyn J. Dean, Interview of February 01, 2011
Lastly
I firmly believe that untranslatable words have the power to uplift and alter our reality in numerous ways. To begin with, they provide a window onto lives in other cultures, revealing something about their traditions, values, and experiences. In this fragmented and divisive age, that kind of empathic connection is vital. But these words are not only valuable in what they tell us about other places, other people. They can also illuminate our own lives, providing us with new language to articulate our experiences. They can even lead us into unglimpsed existential territory, revealing new dimensions of life, of ourselves. So, I would encourage everyone to enquire into this mysterious realm of untranslatability, doing so with a spirit of respect and gratitude for the cultures that created these varied words.
Beyond the book, I hope that readers will take the time to look at the evolving lexicography on my website or on the myriad other website dedicated to this topic. And go further still, chat to people who speak other languages, asking them what discoveries are to be found in their lexicons. You may become transported to new worlds; at the very least you’ll probably have an interesting conversation. Language is a wonderful and mysterious thing, and untranslatable words are among its most profound secrets. A world of discovery awaits.