The Value of Differences: Jennifer Lindsay on Noticing Translation
11 comments
·April 21, 2025jbjbjbjb
My layman take on this is I don’t really want to read a book where “There isn't a paragraph or turn of phrase which feels like it didn't originate in English”. I want the original language to punch through a bit and be celebrated especially with idioms.
PaulDavisThe1st
fun experience: I've read two english translations of The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse. The first one honored the general vibe of its Germanic ancestor, and made it extremely hard to read. The second one had its own vibe, not uniquely English nor obviously German, and was a masterpiece.
kevingadd
Don't you want to appreciate the book at its best, as it was appreciated by readers who read it in its original language? Why demand a compromised work? If you want to soak up untranslated idioms, you can just learn another language.
jbjbjbjb
Well if I really wanted to appreciate the book at its best I’d learn the language and read the original. But that has its obvious impracticalities.
I think it’s a trade off then. I’d prefer authenticity, richness and nuance over accessibility. It is just preference. Did you prefer the modern accessible versions of Shakespeare or the originals in their Elizabethan glory?
j7ake
Sorry but translated works do not mean compromised work. Don’t disrespect translators like that.
Second, Learning a language is not a binary variable. It takes decades to master a language.
Finally, Your ability to appreciate a book is both a function of the text and your ability to comprehend the text. A translated book will give you better experience than the book in a language you are unfamiliar with.
kevingadd
"I want the original language to punch through a bit and be celebrated especially with idioms." is asking for a compromised, incompletely translated work, no?
PaulDavisThe1st
fun fact: Gabriel Garcia Marquez said in public that he believed the english translation of "100 anos de soledad" was better than his spanish original.
readthenotes1
"just learn another language."
Lol Just learn many other languages and cultural idioms that are sometimes regional and dense with meaning?
alganet
The reason to do it is precisely because it is hard.
kevingadd
I sincerely believe everyone should learn at least one other language. At least make the effort, you'll learn a lot in the process and it can be quite fun. It also enriches your understanding of your primary language once you've seen how other languages express particular concepts.
As a French speaker who has done quite a bit of paid translating between French and English (so an uneducated translator rather than an amateur one I guess...), I have found that a lot of translation (in non-fiction, but also sometimes in fiction) have a feel to them. You might not care or notice at a glance, but the text does feel unmistakably translated. That is a constant reminder of that fact that translation is a job that takes real skill, not just knowledge of both language.