What are the redflags when you're looking for translation of a book?
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What are the redflags when you're looking for translation of a book?
What are the redflags when you're looking for translation of a book?
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> Translator is not a male born before ww2
no don't tell me u already know all white flags
Its has an awful cover
Anything that suggest a new interpretive approach or that claims to make the text more accessible to the general reader (the new NYRB Proust translation for example).
This. I was simply going to say: published by NYRB generally. They published translation of Inferno by a moron who does not know a single word of Italian
>translator dumbs down the diction and syntax for the modern audience
dropped
Woke buzzwords in the intro.
Translated by a woman
This is honestly one of the biggest red flags. The only good woman translator, that I am aware of, was Lady Gregory.
This is another. A "new interpretation" should always be avoided, because this just means it was loosely translated and viewed from a presentivist lens. "More accessible" just means it's severely dumbed down for, and by, someone who thinks "damp" is the same as "wet" or that a synonym is "just another way to say" a given word, that is to say, it is 1:1 with the given word.
>Lady Gregory
My man. Consider, also, that she loved the subject matter and was not intentionally adulterating it as most women choose to do.
>Translated by a woman
Not everyone is Emily Wilson lol
The best German translations of Russian works are by women.
constance garnett and pv are okay and standard translations. but yes woman translators tend to be awful. stupid scatterbrained b***hes. but female translators also make sense for languages with a feminine cultural being, like french symbolism, but even then male translators are better.
You are at the mercy of critics when you select a translator and you are at the mercy of translators when you read translations.
Don't fight the translation too much, try and read it as you would a native English text.
You can come back and assess the translation critically when you have obtained the ability to read high literature in another tongue, hopefullt prior to your death.
which language
It's in english.
>"new interpretation"
Cultural vandalism
>"more accessible"
This one is worse than the "new interpretation", though they tend to go hand in hand. Just dumbs down and ruins the original work.
Hard to believe that there are people who make a living off of translating literature despite not even having a basic ability to appreciate what good writing is, nevermind being able to replicate it.
As always, style beats technique
This is why my favourite translator is Máire Nic Mhaoláin, who translates English to Irish, because she can actually understand the intended writing style and tone and sometimes do it better than the original. For example the prose in "Harry Potter Agus an Órchloch" was clearly better than the original (the philosohers stone), and not just in terms of being more purple or whatever, but actually being more articulate and colourful and magical while adhering to a YA literacy standard.
Same with her translation of "Under The Hawthorn Tree" (Irish: Faoin Sceach Gheal), she perfectly matched the intended reading level (in this case, younger children) while fully flexing the potential of the Irish language in a way that honours -but does not attempt to directly copy- the original's award-winning grasp of English.
One subpar translation I'm reading rn is Rebel Mountain by Kurt Eggers, published by Antelope Hill. There are a lot of things where I can almost sense out the deeper brilliance of the original German expression through the disappointingly over-direct and literal English translation. The over-prevalence of footnotes is a sure confirmation that the translator did not take sufficient liberty to rewrite the text into a context which would be as meaningful in English as the original was in its own language.
Ideally, a translation should not be noticeable as such, while still making apparent the artistic greatness of the original. Of course this is easier said than done, hence the prevalence of bad translations and the salaries of the best translators.
Pronouns in bio.
Translator has probably read Kant but it's not that hard to name things and [foundationally prove them]
slurp, sip, bite, sic to you too
Pevear and Volokhonsky, sorry but you didnt read the book