Research Catalog
The tongue of Adam / Abdelfattah Kilito ; translated form the French by Robyn Creswell ; foreword by Marina Warner.
- Title
- The tongue of Adam / Abdelfattah Kilito ; translated form the French by Robyn Creswell ; foreword by Marina Warner.
- Author
- Kilito, Abdelfattah, 1945-
- Publication
- New York : New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2016.
- ©2016
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Not available - Please for assistance. | Text | Request in advance | P116 .K54413 2016 | Off-site |
Details
- Additional Authors
- Description
- xiii, 98 pages; 19 cm.
- Summary
- In the beginning there was one language?one tongue that Adam used to compose the first poem, an elegy for Abel.?These days, no one bothers to ask about the tongue of Adam. It is a naive question, vaguely embarrassing and irksome, like questions posed by children, which one can only answer rather stupidly.? So begins Abdelfattah Kilito?s The Tongue of Adam, a delightful series of lectures. With a Borgesian flair for riddles, stories, and subtle scholarly distinctions, Kilito presents an assortment of discussions related to Adam?s tongue, including translation, comparative religion, and lexicography: for example, how, from Babel onward, can we explain the plurality of language? Or can Adam?s poetry be judged aesthetically, the same as any other poem? Drawing from the commentators of the Koran to Walter Benjamin, from the esoteric speculations of Judaism to Herodotus, The Tongue of Adam is a nimble book about the mysterious rise of humankind?s multilingualism.
- Series Statement
- NDP (New Directions Paperback) ; 1339
- Uniform Title
- Langue d'Adam et autres essais. English
- Alternative Title
- Langue d'Adam et autres essais.
- Subject
- Adam (Biblical figure) > Language
- Adam (Biblical figure) > In the Qurʼan > Language
- Adam (Biblical figure)
- Language and languages > Origin > History
- Historical linguistics
- Arabic literature > History and criticism
- Langage et langues > Origines
- Linguistique historique
- Littérature arabe > Histoire et critique
- historical linguistics
- PHILOSOPHY > History & Surveys > Medieval
- RELIGION > Comparative Religion
- RELIGION > Islam > History
- Adam (Biblical figure) in the Qurʼan
- Arabic literature
- Historical linguistics
- Language and languages
- Language and languages > Origin
- Genre/Form
- Nonfiction.
- essays.
- Essays
- Criticism, interpretation, etc.
- History
- Essays.
- Essais.
- Note
- "A New Directions paperback original."
- Originally published by Les Editions Toubkal (Casablanca, 1999) as La Langue D'Adam et autres essais, 2e éd.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 91-98).
- Processing Action (note)
- committed to retain
- Contents
- Babblings -- Babels -- A babelian Eden -- The oldest poem in the world -- Poet or prophet? -- The oblivion of Adam -- Poetic destiny -- "That's ... nice" (an afterword).
- ISBN
- 9780811224932
- 0811224937
- LCCN
- 2016021272
- 40026669242
- OCLC
- 940362000
- SCSB-12092720
- Owning Institutions
- Harvard Library