Alisz, through the looking glass
- Oct 29, 2015
- 1 min read
If New York wasn’t already a curious city it has just become curiouser and curiouser as The Grolier Club on 47th East 60th Street presents an exhibit entitled Alice in a World of Wonders. The exhibit takes the viewer down the rabbit hole of translations for the classic literature icon, Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Man, do I wish I was in NYC right now! I love Alice in Wonderland and I also happen to adore language and translation!
The Wall Street Journal did an excellent cover on the exhibit and was able to convey Jon A. Lindseth’s, the exhibit’s curator, desire for the project. The art is supposed to take the viewer to the wonderland of the wonderland! The book is full of satires and puns and the exhibit’s art plays on the two while showing how curious these same satires and puns can become in a different language.
The exhibit seems to be just my cup of tea, with the Mad Hatter
and all! I think it to be very cool that the exhibit displays translations of all types; banned translations, poor translations and even translations from languages that people no longer speak. For example, in Japanese, Alice does not argue with the Mad Hatter because it would be considered disrespectful for one to argue with an elder. Alice in Wonderland may be a little more literal if you’re reading it in German because the language has significantly less puns than English.
Overall, I think the exhibit is perfect for tea sippers and bookworms with an appreciation for language and all of its intricacies.
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"You would have to be half mad to dream me up."
-Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
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Are you in NY and have you gotten a chance to visit this exhibit?
If yes, tell me about it, I want to know!
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