Authorial column
Articles
Why I Write in Four Languages
I am periodically asked the same questions: — Why are your books in four languages? — Why not write in Russian, leaving the rest to translators? Language is a distinct form of attention, a natural environment for meaning, not merely a linguistic shell. Translation alone is not enough to place meanings within the context specific to each language, which is inherent in its cultural code. It is necessary to discover the same truth through four different means of expressing it. Russian conveys what English fails to capture — it demands meticulous precision in context and emotional tone. English demands what Russian does not imply — direct, straightforward clarity: an argument is understood without subtext. Spanish syntax carries a weight of formality that French cannot bear.