The Dictionary of Untranslatables is, first and foremost, a broad philosophical issue. Over the past 40 years, the project has gradually developed a diagnosis of translation in philosophy, building a new method that is particularly concerned with alterity and diversity. The dictionaries are not just linguistic lexicons, but they also have created a cartography of linguistic diaspora, migration and contested global checkpoints. I am interested to understand what philosophical, political, ethical and artistic outcomes this project has produced.
From this standpoint, we believe that the ability to contest universality has great value, and we are committed to developing skills in dealing with a changing world that understands and acts in multilingualism, multiculturalism and multipolar geopolitics. I propose to call that method “Dionysian Wisdom”. Dealing with untranslatables
can encourage different ways of thinking about contemporary issues, such as democracy, political rights, language translations, gender and species transfigurations, and other current issues.
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