Challenges in the trade of translation in our times
The translator must find the balance between their own style versus the style projected in the piece to be translated. Would it not be best if they were able to disguise their own voice? The translation of poetry is very likely to be art or close to art, whereas a novel translation can be either artistic, however, sometimes it is rather like a craft. There can be legally binding situations: when a book is part of a series, the translator cannot change the names of characters as they seem fit even if they do not agree with the previous solutions unless they are specifically asked to by the publisher or has a different agreement. Imagine translating the sixth volume of the Harry Potter series without knowing the previous five!
Some novelists have their own preferred translators who work on their books, because this person simply gets it! In case it is a contemporary writer whose work is translated into several languages, they can even keep in touch with the translators and give advice and collaborate so that the final product is impeccable.
Sometimes even classics get re-translated. The purpose usually is to make an important piece more accessible to new generations. Preserving old language is also a strong argument but think of Shakespeare’s dramas as an example! Going to the theatre to see Shakespeare is done and done again, but no matter how universal the message is, how evergreen the topics are, look around you in the theatre and admit that there will be spectators in the audience who have difficulty understanding the language or the references. We don’t blame them! The play was written hundreds of years ago. It’s full of elaborate jokes, references and wit, however, it refers to a life that is not familiar and exists no more! It is the core that really matters, the real message is still there. If only the words were easier: people, even teenagers and young children would be able to enjoy these plays for centuries to come!
We asked professional translators about the beauties, the challenges and some pressing issues of literary translation. Here is a selection from what we got back from them – and the list is far from complete!
One of the biggest challenges is keeping the style of the translation authentic if text is long, a novel, for example. The meticulous work itself can take months or even longer, because there may be extensive research to do on the way. Without proper and thorough research, the project can go wrong.
What if you were from the USA but translating a short story from Japan, from Malawi, or Peru? You need background information. It is ideal if you are well versed in the given culture in terms of cultural codes, linguistics, religion, history, literature, habits, trends, stereotype traps and its up-to-date political information as well as the latest news even if the piece you are
Well, guess what, this change is real, it is already happening! Check out the shortened, simplified, modernised Shakespeare drama adaptations but also the ones in full-length versions containing modern, more accessible vocabulary. They are hugely popular in different book formats, too: bookshops and libraries are teeming with graphic novel adaptations, abridged versions and picture books aimed at, or rather, accommodating, young adults, teenagers and children including toddlers respectively.
One of the current challenges our professionals came back to us about is a sensitive issue. Have you ever thought about how to solve the task of translating gender pronouns as email signatures? English has numerous gender pronouns that users coin themselves. Apart from the more familiar she/her, they/them, we find zhe/zhen and fae/fem as well in email signatures. All the bigger the challenge if the target language is a language with no gendered pronouns. Turkish, Hungarian and many more are languages where he and she are expressed with just one word, specifically O in Turkish and Ő in Hungarian. These are just two examples from the many! Linguistic communities and grassroots movements might need to brainstorm and come up with meaningful and relevant solutions as gender-sensitive, inclusive language is becoming a requirement at universities and public institutions all over the world. If you would like to know more about which languages use gendered pronouns all over the world, the World Atlas of Linguistic Structure (www.wals.info) is a state-of-the-art tool you will enjoy using.
Who exactly the translator is did not used to be an issue of magnitude in the past centuries. Anyone with talent could do the job. Today in some cases even your race and gender can matter. Have you heard of Amanda Gorman, an activist and also the first young Poet Laureate of the USA? Her poem, The Hill We Climb On, that she performed herself during the inauguration of Joe Biden as president, is a striking example. Her Dutch translator, Marieke Lucas Rijneveld actually resigned from translating her poem because the Black community was hurt by the fact of a white person translating the famous work. Marieke stepped down and she stated that she understood that at this historic moment in time she knew when it “wasn’t her place”. When it came to having the same poem translated into Catalan from English, Victor Obiols was sidelined by a committee as “his profile” was not quite right for the job: obviously, he is not a Black woman and not an activist. What he commented is one hundred percent valid in our times: it is a complicated subject that cannot be treated with frivolity. However, what he said afterwards is also worth considering: “But if I cannot translate a poet because she is a woman, young, Black and American of the 21st century, neither can I translate Homer because I am not a Greek of the 8th century BC. Or could not have translated Shakespeare because I am not a 16th-century Englishman”.
Bottom line: there is much more to literary translation than you might have imagined! Check out our next story in the blog.
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