Bringing the dead back to life
Agustín García Calvo

Abstract

The reputable writer and philosopher Agustín García Calvo takes us once again deep into a subject hedged with intricate mazes, that is, debating wether translation is at all possible. As a starting point, he proposes that communication between different languages is utterly impossible, but he swiftly proves that «this impossibility is only gradual, more or less possible according to particular circumstances». After reflecting on when, how and why translation is actually possible, he quotes a number of instances both from Catullus and from the Iliad in order to prove that, following the title for his paper, bringing the dead back to life is after all possible.