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Unrelated but I thought I'd mention the great Colombian Gabriel García Márquez – one of Latin America's most famous authors. I like his Nobel Prize speech: La
by switch007 9y ago
Unrelated but I thought I'd mention the great Colombian Gabriel García Márquez – one of Latin America's most famous authors.
I like his Nobel Prize speech: La soledad de América Latina (The Solitude of Latin America) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzHWZKZXZwI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzHWZKZXZwI (audio starts after a while, and captions are in available in English):
> Several themes Márquez addresses in his speech mirror those of his short stories and novels. Márquez touches on European colonialism, colonial legacies, deterritorialization of the Latin American culture, and he specifically addresses Latin American countries that have been affected negatively by foreign policy.
I wish I knew Spanish well enough to fully appreciate his literary style (currently struggling with "Vivir para contarla", his autobiography, looking up every 10th word!).
- pm90 9y agoThis is something that is incredibly sad for me. I've considered learning other languages simply to appreciate literary works better, but life seems to get in the way (more likely: I'm just not that motivated). Being bilingual, I've seen just how much can be lost in translation... I can only imagine the things I miss when I read, e.g. Les Misérables in English .... :(
- switch007 9y agoAw don't be sad about it. The little nuggets of hispanic culture that I have picked up have enriched my life immensely. I take what I can and enjoy it. I've probably misinterpreted or missed loads. That's fine... Anyway, there is a huge amount of excellent and diverse literature in my own language; other languages are a bonus.