A word in any language is rich with cultural meaning and the more we read of other lives even in translation the more we enrich our own life and vocabulary.
My thought exactly. Translations enrich our reading and writing so much they should be right up there with all the other books on our 'bestseller' lists!
It's hard to judge a translation if one isn't familiar with the original text (unless of course the translation reads very strangely!) but I do think that translators should get much more credit for their role in enabling us to read important - and highly enjoyable - work that would otherwise be beyond reach.
Good one. Aisling. The below quote it is quite interesting and telling. But is there not perhaps an element of 'aren't we terribly clever (as editors, as a newspaper, as a people, whatever) in knowing where to scour out the obscure works you need us to help keep you informed of?' Maybe I misunderstood the context, but I am assuming this was from a recent Dublin newspaper you read.
'The rubric ‘Translated Fiction’ does not of course, apply to popular translated novels such as the Stieg Larsson Millennium series, ‘Scandi noir’ in general, or Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet. It implies instead that the books reviewed belong in the graveyard called ‘literary fiction’.
My thought exactly. Translations enrich our reading and writing so much they should be right up there with all the other books on our 'bestseller' lists!
It's hard to judge a translation if one isn't familiar with the original text (unless of course the translation reads very strangely!) but I do think that translators should get much more credit for their role in enabling us to read important - and highly enjoyable - work that would otherwise be beyond reach.
Much better Noirin and closer to the original!
I never read it but loved the title, which I thought was The Rememberance of Times Past - not Things Past.
Mine a much better translation of course!
Thanks and good luck with that!!
Thanks Chris, there certainly is a smug self-conhratulatory attitude at play here. It's a national paper with notions!!
Nice and pointed. Now I'll have to go to the local bookshop and ask where they keep their "translated fiction"!
Good one. Aisling. The below quote it is quite interesting and telling. But is there not perhaps an element of 'aren't we terribly clever (as editors, as a newspaper, as a people, whatever) in knowing where to scour out the obscure works you need us to help keep you informed of?' Maybe I misunderstood the context, but I am assuming this was from a recent Dublin newspaper you read.
'The rubric ‘Translated Fiction’ does not of course, apply to popular translated novels such as the Stieg Larsson Millennium series, ‘Scandi noir’ in general, or Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan quartet. It implies instead that the books reviewed belong in the graveyard called ‘literary fiction’.