Excellent interview and a nice translation by Mr. Adolphsen. I would like to suggest a small modification, though. At 5:08, Aira uses the Spanish adjective "desbocada" to refer to his imagination. That adjective comes from the horse riders' lingo and means that a horse has broken or lost its mouthpiece and it's running out of control. So, instead of "devoted imagination", I would have written "wild imagination" or "unleashed imagination". My English is far from good and I might be missing an idiom. If that's the case, I apologize to Mr. Adolphsen. But nevertheless I wanted to make this clarification because that "wild imagination" is at the very center of Aira's literature and it's one of its most distinctive characteristics in my opinion.
4 years later... We sometimes use the phrase in English "unbridled imagination", which Google translates from English into Spanish as "imaginación desenfrenada", which wouldn't be far off your explanation of the origin of the phrase. A "bridle" translates as "brida" or "frenillo". Hablo solo un poquito de Español.
@@atranscriber1766 Well, better late than never, right? I agree with your translation. In Spanish, "desenfrenada" is basically the same as "desbocada" so "unbridled imagination" seems to be the perfect choice
fitting that it would be a wild horse due to the fact that this adjective is chosen in connection to dada, a word which, apart from its nonsensical denotation, if one could be allowed such a phrase, has also the meaning of a hobby horse
For me the queen of the arts is music. It is the most massive, the one that we can all understand regardless of language, religion, or social class. But... nowadays we have to say amen to everything the Argentines say. They are the favorites of the North Americans and that has benefits
What are you talking about? You clearly don't know the suffering that Argentina went through because of America. "We have to say" why are you projecting your inferiority complex on everyone?
No leí nada de Aira, lo leeré por curiosidad. Realiza muchas críticas a grandes autores, él estará a la altura para ser tan crítico? Quién es el entrevistador?
@Sebastián Cretón Gracias por tu aporte, todavía llevo sin leer a Aira. Seguiré tu consejo y comenzaré a leer a Lamborghini. Cuál de sus libros me recomiendas leer primero? Sé que no ha escrito muchos...
@@gabrieleliasguevaralarru8989 De Borges não fala mal. Dos grandes autores hispano-americanos do século XX, parece considera-lo o maior, numa altura que só pode ser alcançada, talvez, por Lezama Lima.
No es por defenderlo pero, ¿No será que el tiene gusto distintos? ¿Acaso tiene que gustarle esos autores "intocables"? He visto en entrevistas que admira a autores como Kafka, Borges, Proust, Laiseca...
No tiene nada de pose borgeana. Borges solía citar mucho a autores, hablaba bastante de sus antepasados, recurría mucho a la ironía y por momentos tartamudeaba.
Well, if he is seeking the same intellectual honesty as Borges then it's natural they will resemble one another, i.e. it's not a pose at all, it's a similar self-fashioning. I was struck by the lack of a pose, by the sense of his responses being the product of a life's work, which was why they were deep, clear, and concise. You can repeatedly see him realizing he is embellishing an answer out of politeness and how he then tails off into silence.
Excellent interview, thank you. Great questions and wonderful responses.
Magnificent interview. A great writer, Cesar Aira is a must for every spanish fiction reader.
Excellent interview and a nice translation by Mr. Adolphsen. I would like to suggest a small modification, though. At 5:08, Aira uses the Spanish adjective "desbocada" to refer to his imagination. That adjective comes from the horse riders' lingo and means that a horse has broken or lost its mouthpiece and it's running out of control. So, instead of "devoted imagination", I would have written "wild imagination" or "unleashed imagination".
My English is far from good and I might be missing an idiom. If that's the case, I apologize to Mr. Adolphsen. But nevertheless I wanted to make this clarification because that "wild imagination" is at the very center of Aira's literature and it's one of its most distinctive characteristics in my opinion.
Perhaps we could translate it as 'letting one's imagination run wild', my English isn't that great too.
4 years later... We sometimes use the phrase in English "unbridled imagination", which Google translates from English into Spanish as "imaginación desenfrenada", which wouldn't be far off your explanation of the origin of the phrase. A "bridle" translates as "brida" or "frenillo". Hablo solo un poquito de Español.
@@atranscriber1766 Well, better late than never, right? I agree with your translation. In Spanish, "desenfrenada" is basically the same as "desbocada" so "unbridled imagination" seems to be the perfect choice
fitting that it would be a wild horse due to the fact that this adjective is chosen in connection to dada, a word which, apart from its nonsensical denotation, if one could be allowed such a phrase, has also the meaning of a hobby horse
@@justinloke6038 Or giving one's imagination "free rein"
A great writer!
For me the queen of the arts is music. It is the most massive, the one that we can all understand regardless of language, religion, or social class. But... nowadays we have to say amen to everything the Argentines say. They are the favorites of the North Americans and that has benefits
What are you talking about? You clearly don't know the suffering that Argentina went through because of America.
"We have to say" why are you projecting your inferiority complex on everyone?
No leí nada de Aira, lo leeré por curiosidad. Realiza muchas críticas a grandes autores, él estará a la altura para ser tan crítico? Quién es el entrevistador?
@Sebastián Cretón Gracias por tu aporte, todavía llevo sin leer a Aira. Seguiré tu consejo y comenzaré a leer a Lamborghini. Cuál de sus libros me recomiendas leer primero? Sé que no ha escrito muchos...
¿ quien es Aira ? su estrategia es hablar mal de los pesos pesados Latinuamericanos ( Cortazar , Llosa, Borges, etc)
@@gabrieleliasguevaralarru8989 De Borges não fala mal. Dos grandes autores hispano-americanos do século XX, parece considera-lo o maior, numa altura que só pode ser alcançada, talvez, por Lezama Lima.
yo lo leí y leí entrevistas de él. Para mí, no lo está... muy lejos de estarlo
No es por defenderlo pero, ¿No será que el tiene gusto distintos? ¿Acaso tiene que gustarle esos autores "intocables"? He visto en entrevistas que admira a autores como Kafka, Borges, Proust, Laiseca...
13:47
Que fea manera de entrevistar, pobre Ayra
Qué horrible que ponga toda la pose de Borges al momento de hablar...
Jamás note tal pose, y he leído a muchos diciendo eso. Es llamativo.
No tiene nada de pose borgeana. Borges solía citar mucho a autores, hablaba bastante de sus antepasados, recurría mucho a la ironía y por momentos tartamudeaba.
Well, if he is seeking the same intellectual honesty as Borges then it's natural they will resemble one another, i.e. it's not a pose at all, it's a similar self-fashioning. I was struck by the lack of a pose, by the sense of his responses being the product of a life's work, which was why they were deep, clear, and concise. You can repeatedly see him realizing he is embellishing an answer out of politeness and how he then tails off into silence.