About this item
How embracing untranslatable terms for well-being -- from the Finnish sisu to the Yiddish mensch -- can enrich our emotional understanding and experience.Western psychology is rooted in the philosophies and epistemologies of Western culture. But what of concepts and insights from outside this frame of reference Certain terms not easily translatable into English -- for example, nirvaa (from Sanskrit) , or agpe (from Classical Greek) , or turangawaewae (from Maori) -- are rich with meaning but largely unavailable to English-speaking students and seekers of wellbeing. In this book, Tim Lomas argues that engaging with "untranslatable" terms related to well-being can enrich not only our understanding but also our experience. We can use these words, Lomas suggests, to understand and express feelings and experiences that were previously inexpressible.
About the Author
Tim Lomas is a Research Affiliate at the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard University and the author of Translating Happiness: A Cross-Cultural Lexicon of Well-Being. His work has been featured in Time, the New Yorker, Vox, Scientific American, and the Atlantic.
