Abstract
I will explore the concept of a “dictionary of untranslatable words” and recount the intellectual, editorial, and personal journey that led to its creation.
I will explain the principles, difficulties, constraints, reception, and initial impact of such a work, which rejects for Europe both “Globish”—a globalized English used purely for communication—and a Martin Heidegger-style “ontological nationalism” that establishes a hierarchy of languages.
Instead, I will draw on Jacques Derrida’s “More Than One Language,” which he pairs with “A Language Does Not Belong.”