Please excuse the title of this post, I am aware that it reads something like the title of an episode from The Big Bang Theory, but it is appropriate. In recent translation projects, that are hopefully nearing publication, I have recently come across the problem of just how literally to present a work of verbal art. For example, I am translating the work of one performer of whom many say, "every word in his performance has meaning." If that's the case, how can I translate things faithfully and ensure readability? I believe it was Schleiermacher, one of the earlier translation theorists, who basically set up a dichotomy between taking the reader to the target culture and taking the target culture to the reader. In practice, this basically meant that you can't have your cake and it eat too. I'm stubborn, though, and feel like there should be a way, especially once I have become aware of the artistic details of these performances. An additional school of thought is that if someone really wants to approach a text on its own terms, they should learn the language well enough to do so. If any of the (admittedly) very few readers of these ruminations has any ideas, I'd be glad to hear them.
To this point, I have generally tried to make the text as accessible to the reader as possible. Where possible, I try to keep some of the original language imagery, but the fact of the matter is that a comedic text should still be funny in translation. At the very least, the reader should be able to see how the original may be seen as humorous to native audiences. The result is that, in many instances, I have begun to feel more like an interpreter or even an author than a translator. I have tended to shy away native language idiosyncracies in favor of English terms that may be somewhat equivalent in use if not in literal meaning. This means that double negatives (which are both common and appropriate in one of the languages with which I work) or embedding multiple clauses in a single sentence (common in two languages at issue) are sometimes turned into simple positives (in the case of the former) and multiple sentences (in the case of the latter). Furthermore, the colloquial register means that sometimes dense English language colloquialisms be used. For example, epithets generally have to do with swearing oaths (the original use of the term "swear word") whereby if they do this something will happen to family members, or they'll take on the sins of others. This is very interesting, but I am at a loss as to what English language swear word will most accurately take on the meaning of "by my son's flesh." Another issue is that I tend to agree with Cashman that it is not particularly beneficial to employ an overly colloquial register in the translation, as i comes across making highly articulate people appear less so. Clearly, I have an ambivalent attitude towards translation. I believe that it has an inherent value, but only insofar as the translation possesses merit... or at least has an underlying logic. Here's hoping I st
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About TimAs you can see elsewhere on this webpage, I conduct research on ethnic minorities in western China. This blog offers semi-academic musings on the minutiae of daily life out here--the sort of information otherwise destined for footnotes. Categories |