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If This Be Magic

Daniel Hahn
€31.99
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Author_Daniel Hahn
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Category=DSG
Category=GTD
cultural exchange
culture
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eq_dictionaries-language-reference
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Hamlet
literary theory
literature
Macbeth
Romeo and Juliet
Shakespeare
Taming of the Shrew
translation
translators
Twelfth Night

Product details

  • ISBN 9781805301622
  • Weight: 639g
  • Dimensions: 159 x 240mm
  • Publication Date: 09 Apr 2026
  • Publisher: Canongate Books
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Hardback
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Description

Why might Hamlet be even longer in Italian?

How does the story of Romeo and Juliet begin . . . in Thai?

How do you build a joke in German, or recreate a rhyme in Japanese?

And why are Lady Macbeth's pronouns such a problem?

What does it mean to translate Shakespeare? When we change all the poetry, all the wordplay, all the syntax - all the words! - is it still Shakespeare? And is it still any good?

Daniel Hahn, seasoned translator and Shakespeare fanatic, will change the way you think about language itself. Ranging widely across Shakespeare's works, and across the world's languages, this book explores why we choose the words we do and what effect they have.

No knowledge of any particular language is required, though a bit of patience for the nerdiest of close reading is desirable. This micro-attention to detail reveals anew the joy of Shakespeare, celebrates creativity and revels in the power of words.
About Daniel Hahn
Daniel Hahn is an award-winning translator, author and editor. His translations include novels from a dozen countries, as well as short fiction, wide-ranging non-fiction, children's books and plays. He is the author of Catching Fire: A Translation Diary, and editor of a new edition of The Oxford Companion to Children's Literature. He has been on the board of a number of organisations that work with literature, literacy and free speech. He is currently editing The Penguin Book of Brazilian Short Stories (with Padma Viswanathan) and translating a Mexican novel.

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