The Linguist

Chartered Institute of Linguists SPRING 2025 The Linguist 29 SECTION HEADER REVIEWS good friend, and despite having little confidence in her abilities, the protagonist sends a last-minute application to translate Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, which surprisingly gets accepted. Full of self-doubt, she travels to Dresden to translate the 'Time Passes' section of the novel and escape her own painful memories. So begins a journey of meditation and recuperation through translation. Living out of her suitcase, the translator longs for a stable home where she doesn't have to live like a nomad. As she considers whether to read a book given to her by her deceased friend, who also used to travel, we explore themes of loss and longing. Into this, Wajsbrot weaves absorbing anecdotes with startling skill: how Herman Melville had to resume his administrative work once sales of Moby-Dick began to fall; Wilhelm Reich's development of 'orgone energy'. While traversing the landscapes of the words created by authors, the translator describes her own life. 'Time Passes' depicts the effect of WWI and as she works on it she reflects on her own visit to Dresden, taking the reader to two parallel worlds and exploring them together in her mind: "She measures the rhythm of Woolfian sentences against the city's movement." Nevermore gives readers the rare opportunity to go inside a translator's mind. We get a glimpse of Wajsbrot's own journey of translation, as a Woolf specialist, but the story in some ways reflects every translator's journey, as we laboriously enhance our work while meticulously choosing the precise words and sentences. Wajsbrot's use of both French and English is skillfully handled by Nevermore translator Tess Lewis. Although it took me a while to get used to the presence of both languages (neither of which is my first language), it does not interrupt the flow but simply lets the story unfold through the channel of different languages. A journey that starts with the heaviness of memories and the loss of a friend gets lighter while translating To the Lighthouse in this poignant tale of self-reflection. It was pleasure to accompany the unnamed translator through this meditative and translational journey. Lachhemi Rana MCIL Nevermore Cécile Wajsbrot; translated by Tess Lewis Seagull Books 2025, 192 pp; ISBN 9781803093895 Hardback, £18.99 In Chapter 6 of Race, Racism, and Antiracism in Language Education we are told how Nneka, a US citizen of Nigerian descent who is studying Mandarin in China, learns foreign languages as a way to break free from the restraints imposed by English monolingualism and from the inherent racism she is used to in America. For her, knowledge of languages is a gateway to a better, more tolerant world, and she reports that she feels happier and freer from bigoted aggression in China than in her home country. This positive experience is heartening, but there is another side to language learning in which racist oppression, far from being dispelled, is reinforced by the education system. Numerous examples are provided in the book, taken from a range of countries. In a San Francisco school, we are told how Indigenous Central American languages are treated with contempt in the classroom, triggering a movement by parents to defend their children's right to know and use their heritage language. In Mexico, trainee language teachers from the Oaxaca region describe the discrimination and derision they suffered as schoolchildren due to their ethnic roots and native language use. This prejudice was reinforced by their learning materials: in an English textbook, affluent doctors and engineers are depicted as white, while those with a Latino appearance work as cleaners. The results of the research discussed in the book suggest that racism is as pervasive in the language classroom as it is in the rest of society, and that language policies, teaching practices and learner experiences are shaped by persistent post-colonial attitudes. Having provided convincing evidence of the enduring blight of racism in these contexts, the authors discuss counter-racism strategies, offering a practical framework for implementing antiracist pedagogy in language education. They recommend that teachers actively address racial issues in the classroom context, encouraging discussion of language and identity, and creating inclusive learning environments in order to overcome these discriminatory currents. The approach emphasises reflexivity, encouraging educators to examine their own biases and assumptions, which is crucial if meaningful changes are to come about. This book will be an invaluable resource for such professionals, and for all other members of the educational community interested in achieving equity and social justice in language learning. Ross Smith MCIL CL Race, Racism, and Antiracism in Language Education Ryuko Kubota and Suhanthie Motha Routledge 2025 286 pp; ISBN 9781032245317, Paperback, £38.99 This masterful novel displays Cécile Wajsbrot's artistry in the fields of translation and storytelling through the narrative of an unnamed translator. After the loss of her

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