Blind Spot by Teju Cole

Author:Teju Cole [Cole, Teju]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780399591075
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2017-06-13T04:00:00+00:00

ROME

I had an interview on Rai Radio 3. M was to be my translator. She was wearing a purple coat that day. We sat in the studio, the host and M and me, and when the host asked me a question in Italian, M whispered the translation into my ear. When I gave my answer, which was usually a few sentences long, she translated it into Italian. The questions were about the book. Which had come first, the words or the images? Why were there so few people in the images? I tried to give thoughtful answers. When M, in her cool and attentive way, translated them, they sounded even more thoughtful.

She was listening to me while I spoke, closely enough to convey what I had said concept for concept, if not word for word. But what surprised me was that I was listening to her too. In the necessary silence (on my part) between my giving an answer and its relay to the audience, I had the opportunity to consider carefully what I’d just said, and what I might say next. And when I spoke, I became aware of M’s attention as an active silence, like a page on which I was writing my words. I was having a conversation with the host: her questions, my answers. But the deeper conversation was between M and me, because we were translating each other’s silences.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.