#on translation

[metamorphesque]

Vardges Petrosyan, Years Lived and Unlived (translated by metamorphesque)

#quotes #literature #on translation #classic literature #translated literature #armenian literature #vardges petrosyan #years lived and unlived #my translations

[makethewordsyours]

i cant believe that to be a translator i just have to come to terms with the fact that translation does not exist. there will never be complete identity between two different languages there can only ever be equivalence. there is no such thing as translation without loss & in fact loss is inherent to translation you cannot escape it. and as a translator you will always have to make choices that will lead to those losses and it will feel like a betrayal and you will be haunted by what you have killed in translation & grieve and there is nothing you can do about it. the only way to curb that loss is if everyone everywhere spoke every language which is not feasible & there is just a void of meaning, a cemetery of significance in every translation and a world of footnotes and translator’s notes will not be enough to fill in the gaps. but still. yknow yknow

#on translation #translation #something something the human condition etc etc #that too. i am thinking thoughts #rarely post on here but hii btw i am a translation major #here’s my two cents

[kitchen-light]

The slightest alterations in translation can turn a girl into maid with few choices, a slave with none at all, or a slut who only has herself to blame. And it took a woman to see, or perhaps just care about, those differences. As it is we learn so little about Penelope’s δμωαί, their joys, their fears, and — with one exception, Melantho — even their names. The girls are at the mercy of the men in and the translator of the Odyssey. Who will tell their stories for them?

Yung In Chae, from her essay “Women Who Weave | Reading Emily Wilson’s Translation of the Odyssey With Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad”, published in Eidolon, November 16, 2017

#yung in chae #quotes #essays #words #found* #on translation

[stargir1z]

“When we lose linguistic diversity we suffer a consequent loss in the range of ways of experiencing the world.” - Beth Ann Fennelly, Fruits We'll Never Taste, Languages We'll Never Hear: The Need for Needless Complexity

#my uploads #on language #on translation #on experience #on diversity #on subjectivity

[tachikoma-x]

I thought Viz’s official English version rendering “Sherly” as “Sherlock” was bad enough, but hey it turns out it’s even worse - they kind of messed up the whole sentence??

Viz: “Tonight, you didn’t come here as a detective… you came as a friend. But … I’ve already lost. Sherlock. ”

'But... I’ve already lost.' alters the intended meaning of this sentence (僕の負けだ) considerably. It is vague as heck and can be interpreted a number of different ways (like, was he talking about the moriarty plan??). It obscures the fact that William was conceding defeat to Sherlock in this game of two. He was not saddened or disheartened. It’s a moment of both intense joy and sorrow, perhaps in equal measure, as William finally saw crystal clear Who Sherlock is—a friend who had sought his own friendship all along—and the lengths Sherlock was willing to go to for that friendship.

(It’s my current working theory that the translator read the next sentence where William was talking about how the boards/scaffolding won’t support that much weight for longer and that fate will likely show no mercy, and decided that that sentence was simply a reflection of William feeling disheartened by the situation…)

Ugh.

Both the anime and fan translations are excellent:

Anime: “You came here not as a detective, but as a friend, didn’t you? You’ve bested me. … Sherly.”

Fan: “So you came here not as a “detective” … But rather as a “friend”, … It’s my loss. Sherly…”

And while we are on this subject, Viz also messed up the translation for the first time Sherlock called William “Liam.”

Also, that night at 221 B, Sherlock used “Professor William James Moriarty” but the translation simply said “William James Moriarty.”

These choices are perplexing. I’d like to think these are errors, because it’s even worse if these are deliberate imo.

But at the end of the day, these translators are probably overworked and underpaid. Because MTP only comes out 4 times a year, by the time they get the latest volume, they’d probably already forgotten what the last volume was about. That, and working against a tight deadline, would make mulling over word choices and ensuring consistency throughout the series difficult. So this is still not a knock on individual translators, but Viz should do better.

#yuumori manga #vent post #on translation #do we not deserve nice things #moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #sherliam #william james moriarty #mtp sherlock

[luthienne]

Rachel Cusk, from Outline

[Text ID: ‘…but perhaps,’ he said, ‘the best way to confront our fears is to put them in costume, so to speak; to translate them, for the simple act of translation very often renders things harmless.]

#rachel cusk #outline #words #lit #typography #on language #on storytelling #on naming #on translation #breadcrumbs

[heavenlyyshecomes]

“It seems like the big distinction between good art and so-so art,” Wallace once wrote, “lies somewhere in the art’s heart’s purpose, the agenda of the consciousness behind the text. It’s got something to do with love. With having the discipline to talk out of the part of yourself that can love instead of the part that just wants to be loved.” This love doesn’t just reside in the text or the author; it thrives in the space between the reader (or translator) and the text itself. If the piece of fiction “can allow us imaginatively to identify with a character’s pain”, as Wallace suggested, so that “we might also more easily conceive of others identifying with our own”, then the translator’s role transforms into that of an invisible tunnel builder, creating a passageway that makes the once-inaccessible accessible.

—Moeen Farrokhi, Consider the Words: On Translating Infinite Jest into Farsi in LitHub

#moeen farrokhi #david foster wallace #readings #on translation #words #mine

[metamorphesque]

Andrey Kneller, the translator of My Poems: Selected Poetry of Marina Tsvetaeva [bilingual edition] 

#quotes #literature #on translation #classic literature #translated literature #andrey kneller #marina tsvetaeva #russian literature #russian classics

[sophieeeikli]

“The destruction is serious. Translating is not pouring wine from one bottle into another. Substance and form cannot be separated easily. (I hope we do not have to go again over the false dichotomy of “les belles infidèles,” which assumes that one could be “faithful” to a poem by rendering ugly or dull what it “says.”) Translating is more like wrenching a soul from its body and luring it into a different one. It means killing. “We grow old through the word. We die of translation,” says Jabès in Retour au Livre.3 His words are not an author’s facetious despair at bad translation, but part of a more serious meditation on time and the word, on the book of flesh. Death, it is true, is more certain than resurrection or transmigration. There is no body ready to receive the bleeding soul. I have to make it, and with less freedom than in the case of the most formal poem on a given subject. I have to shape it with regard to this soul created by somebody else, by a different, though not alien, aesthetic personality.” -Rosemarie Waldorp, Joy of the Demiurge

#on translation #rosemarie waldorp

[the-tenth-arcanum]

the fact she probably thought "oh, venice! amazing place. what dialect do they speak there I bet it sounds cool" and got someone to translate those sentences in perfect venetian dialect and this person did not ask her "are you sure though?" is hilarious to me

#I mean at least in the italian translation they should have changed it #I haven't read the book I don't know what it's about but how could you take it seriously #imagine reading a fantasy novel and a character starts speaking like your grandpa's mate #the one who's always drinking wine at 9am at the bar where he meets with his mates to play cards #cassandra clare #italian things #on translation #*

[kitchen-light]

Most translators are sick of talking about fidelity and so am I. But I do care about respect. I want to respect the texts I translate, and I want my craft to show it. I want to be a good guest: observant, appreciative, offering both my company and my independence as proof of my trust.

Robin Myers, from her essay “Hosts and Guests”, published in Words without Borders, December 15, 2022

#robin myers #quotes #essays #words #found* #on translation

[stargir1z]

The Adulteress Wife by Toril Moi, a review of the 2011 translation of The Second Sex

#toril moi #simone de beauvoir #constance borde #Sheila Malovany Chevallier #on translation #on feminism

[tachikoma-x]

Just want to second fan translation’s take on this legendary sherliam moment above. This exchange is worth getting right because it makes Sherlock even sweeter? Language aside, William saying “i don’t recall you ever taking me up on the offer” in the official ver hardly makes sense contexually because Sherlock was the one extending the invite in ch. 16 be like let’s grab dinner together another time!

And the guy is nothing if not persistent:

#yuumori manga #sherliam #moriarty the patriot #yuukoku no moriarty #on translation

[foxghost]

So much of the work of translation is capturing and conveying the feelings humming beneath a text that I cannot help but feel, perhaps too optimistically, that literary translators are safe from the threat artificial intelligence supposedly poses. A machine can do meaning, but no more.

#translation #on translation #long read #a good read #queued #it's not behind a paywall #just press escape if you don't see an x on the popup

[pastafossa]

Hi Pasta! How you doing?

I was wondering, have you ever thought about somehow translating The Red Thread in other languages to reach more readers?

Being from Italy I am well aware of how little english Italian people know (and I guess this is common in many other countries in the world), and I always think about how many people would love to read your ff but don't have the possibility of enjoying it like everyone else does.

P. S. If you ever need help with anything that involves italian stuff, I'm happy to help 😄

I've thought about it, yes! And a few people have talked to me about doing a translation and then posting on AO3 under the 'translated work' category so it links back to my original fic. And I'm honestly fine with that! I would love love LOVE if people could read it in their native languages, and as long as someone asks me, and it's posted on AO3 and properly linked back to the original, I'm supportive! The biggest hurdle is just the sheer size of TRT, I think, and the two translators who tried to do it (iirc spanish and french), got burned out and tapped out, which I totally get cause holy shit my fic is LONG. So I'm absolutely open to it, if anyone wants to try!

As an aside, I know there's someone on a Russian fic site who is doing this without my permission, and their translation has also changed characters' names, including Jane, Maya, and Daniel's, which is frustrating. This is just a general 'out there to everyone' and not directed at you, but to everyone else: please don't do this. I'm generally friendly and approachable over stuff, so if someone wants to translate, like I said, just come talk to me, post it on AO3 under the 'translated works' category so it links back to trt properly, and if you're going to change something other than phrasing, check with me first. I put a lot of thought into this fic, even when it comes to small details like names! I intentionally try to illustrate how diverse NYC is, for example, by using a wide variety of last names - Anastas, Gonzales, Esposito, Chen, etc. Jane's name is chosen because in the US, 'Jane Hind' is a variation of Jane Doe, the name we give to people we can't identify. I love scattering small details like that in, and on top of that, I know what the clues are. By changing things, you risk losing out on hints at what's coming.

So basically: I am absolutely cool if someone wants to take on translating TRT, and I'd be happy to answer any questions! All I'd want was for it to be on AO3 and properly linked back to my fic, and that permission was asked both to translate and to make any changes beyond neccesary phrasing alterations (since I know slang and metaphors don't always translate well).

#oh yeah i linked back no worries! #the red thread #on translation #ask response #i am TOTALLY cool with a translation of TRT and I'm absolutely down with it! #i only have the few requirements above #so that it's properly credited back and important details remain #anyone's free to ask me about it too! #just like... #don't just do it without asking and change things like names #because even if you say it's not the same

[tenth-sentence]

Sméagol and Déagol are equivalents made up in the same way for names Trahald 'burrowing, worming in', and Nahald 'secret' in the Northern tongues.

"The Lord of the Rings: Appendices – Appendix F" - J.R.R. Tolkien

#book quote #lotr #lord of the rings #jrr tolkien #appendices #appendix #on translation #smeagol #deagol #hobbits