Fifty sounds : a memoir of language, learning, and longing / Polly Barton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Barton, Polly (Translator), author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Translating and interpreting.

Japanese language.

Translators--England--Biography.

Translators.

Barton, Polly (Translator).

Barton, Polly.

England.

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xxviii, 350 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First American edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2022.

©2021

Summary:

"Fifty Sounds is a genre-defying meditation on language from an electric new voice. When Polly Barton moved to a remote island in Japan at twenty-one, she did not anticipate the total sensory bombardment: "It is a possession, a bedevilment, a physical takeover." Divided into fifty onomatopoeic Japanese phrases, this elegantly written and deeply introspective memoir recounts her path to grasping the basics and becoming not only a literary translator but fluent in one of the most difficult vernaculars in the world. From min-min, the sound of air screaming, to hi'sori, the sound of harboring masochist tendencies, Barton renders these foreign sounds to reflect on the meaning of being an outsider, cultural conformity, and even the transformative philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. A classic in the making, Fifty Sounds unearths the distinctly human act of learning to communicate and think in a new way"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: ¶ Giro': the sound of eyes riveting deep into holes in your self-belief, or vicariously visiting the Nocturama, or every party where you have to introduce yourself

¶ Giza-giza: the sound of seeing what you thought was yours through the lens of an alternative system, or of having your cock incomprehensibly sucked

¶ Zara-zara: the sound of the rough ground

¶ Mushi-mushi: the sound of insects being forced from your body, or laughing as you vocalize an unthinkable situation, or being steamed alive

¶ Min-min: the sound of the air screaming, or being saturated in sound

¶ Sa'pari: the sound of a mind unblemished by understanding

¶ Nobi-nobi: the sound of space

¶ Moja-moja: the sound of electric hair

¶ Yochi-yochi: the sound of tottering (at last)

¶ Zu': the sound of always and never having been like this

¶ Mecha-kucha: the sound of a truly mixed tool-bag

¶ Chira-chira: the sound of the mighty loner and the caress of ten thousand ownerless looks

¶ Jin-jin: the sound of being touched for the very first time

¶ Pota-pota: the sound of red dripping onto asphalt

¶ Kyuki-kyuki: the sound of writing your obsession on a steamy tile, or the miracle becoming transparent

¶ Muka-muka: the sound of nights with a dictionary, and the thrill of drawing close to someone's real feelings

¶ Hiya-hiya: the sound of recalling your past misdemeanors

¶ Bin-bin: the sound of having lots of sex of dubitable quality

¶ Bare-bare: the sound of being so invested in something that it leaks into everything you do, or abandoning hope of appearing cool, or insidious paranoia

¶ Pika-pika: the sound of my floors and your trainers and our graveyards

¶ Jara-jara: the sound of a flash of metal in the blood

¶ Koro-koro: the sound your teeny little identity makes as it goes spinning across the floor

¶ Bishi-bishi: the sound of being struck sharply and repeatedly by a stick-like object, or (infrequently) of branches breaking

¶ Mote-mote: the sound of being a small-town movie star

¶ Kasa-kasa: the sound of the desert heat in the heart or the desert heart in the heat

¶ Bo': the sound of a ship leaving shore

¶ Kira-kira: the sound of a #magiclife, or embracing your shining future

¶ Shobo-shobo: the sound of persistent drizzle on a thirteenth-century Scottish castle

¶ Chiku-chiku: the sound of kicking against the pricks, or the ugliness of learning a language as a native English speaker, or the manner of stabbing repeatedly with a sharp-pointed instrument

¶ Giri-giri: the sound of just about getting by, or being weighed on a moment-by-moment basis

¶ Poka-poka: the sound of stepping into a warm obliviousness that is probably not what a higher self would want or need

¶ Kiri-kiri: the sound of the small sharp dark piercing feeling, or not loving anime as much as you should

¶ Gara-gara: the rattling sound the inexplicable makes as it becomes manifest

¶ Shi'kuri: the sound of fitting where you don't fit

¶ Hi'sori: the sound of being a masochist, or having an unrealizable dream of which you can't let go, or subconsciously aspiring to a form of life governed by discipline, quietude, and an absence of sticky emotions

¶ Beta': the sound of very sticky fingers

¶ Pera-pera: the sound of spouting forth, or a bullish market

¶ Uwaa: the sound of the feeling that cannot be spoken

¶ Ba'sari: the sound of nevermore, and how it comes when you least expect it

¶ Nuru-nuru: the slippery sound of knowing the lingo

¶ Uda-uda: the sound of the wild bore

¶ Don: the sound of the sexy lovely violent hand slamming the wall

¶ Don: the sound of big drums, bombs, and the good-bad dream

¶ Uka-uka: the sound of always being slightly wrong

¶ Boro-boro: the important sound of things falling apart

¶ Sara-sara: the sound of a very smooth fluid taking you by surprise (and being the most acceptable part of you)

¶ Ho': the sound of the xenophobe returning home, or being restored to magical normality by your friends, or tolerating yourself in photographs

¶ Gu'tari: the sound of your words having more power than you thought, or unexpectedly saying what you mean

¶ Atsu-atsu: the sound of being hot to a degree that stands just on the verge of acceptability

¶ Uho-uho: the sound of the jubilant gorilla and the foolish builder done good.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

ISBN:

9781324091318

1324091312

OCLC:

1252845100

Publisher Number:

99991279461