What's the best English translation of The Divine Comedy?
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What's the best English translation of The Divine Comedy?
What's the best English translation of The Divine Comedy?
It's All Fucked Shirt $22.14 |
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You can know a priori that it is impossible to translate la Divina Commedia into English.
ehhh.
if you want a good balance between accuracy and scholarship then either the Hollander or Durling. To be honest i mainly keep both around for the notes, which are excellent. Ciardi is also fine and was my first ever foray into dante, but i find him hard to recommend .
Avoid Dorothy Sayers, unless you really like the olde worlde tone and have a serious tolerance for melodrama.
To be honest IMO you are better off picking individual translations by various poets.
Sean O'Brien for Inferno,
W.S. Merwin's Purgatorio
and learn Italian for Paradiso.
>Durling
What's the style of and what's in the Durling notes that others don't have?
>Durling
Well it's blank verse, only slightly tuned (like most eng translations) with extensive historical and biographical notes at the end of each chapter as well as more lit crit type notes at the end + the Italian text in parallel. Reading it along side The Dante Encyclopedia you would have everything you need to make your way thought the poem. Otherwise i would recommend starting with some sort of brief introduction like Shaw's Reading Dante or the The Cambridge Companion.
Just opened and read a random bit in Purgatorio and it's really readable. unlike the Hollander It keeps up with the Italian surprisingly well.
>with extensive historical and biographical notes at the end of each chapter as well as more lit crit type notes at the end + the Italian text in parallel.
Doesn't Hollander have this? And Hollander's longer.
In terms of notes Hollander's are on the whole shorter. For someone who mostly reads the text in Italian and only occasionally needs the English during the more difficult bits they are both fine, but when making your way though for the first time it is (appropriately enough) good to have a guide.
The problem with Dante is just how obscure he is can be. Ideally you should first have a basic knowledge of Saint Augustine, the medieval history of Florence, the Papal schism and Papal State, Guelph vs Ghibelline fighting, and a non elementary knowledge of dante's theories on Monarchy, Language and Poetry.
This is obviously not realistic or advisable and will turn off al but the most autistic readers.
Read the poem, follow the notes, and except that you will very likely be coming back years down the line. .
Dude what are you even on about? What does florence play in any important way in the story? Don't scare away people with your autism. The only thing newcomers might not understand are all the names being dropped every now and then. Hell one doesn't even need to know who Virgil is in the first place. Italian children read it in highschool.
>What does florence play in any important way in the story
> literally everyone he encounters is a florentine politician .
also just get this version to end this sutistic discussion
gustave dore is very much recommended, especially if you also plan to read paradise lost
Yuck.
shit translation
How’s the Merwin?
Really good if very different.
Feels more like a like a personal project and assumes familiarity with the text.
Just learn German
which is the best german translation? been wanting to read this for a while but couldn't decide on a translation
I'm curious about this too, but I've already read it in english..The Mandelbaum translation is great, dunno what this autistic anon is on about. Just get the everyman's Library hardcover, it's very much worth it and a lot of fun.
It’s a paraphrasing, not a translation. Might as well play the EA game while you’re at it
How can one be so autistic. Are you the same kind of person who tells other people that they never really tasted coffee if they didn't consume it in the specific which way, which only you enjoy?
Then go with Longfellow
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
I'll post some photos related to the divine comedy now.
Also be sure to visit the Rodin Museum in Paris, or the national galery in Tokyo for a photo of the hells gate from the divine comedy
>food analogy
Great comeback anon, now shut up
no, plebs don’t deserve good answers
Stefan George's (not complete) or Rudolf Borchardt
really? incomplete doesn't seem appealing and no publisher is using the Borchardt translation
To read Dante? Wouldn't it be smarter to learn Italian?
Longfellow. I always recommend to avoid Mandelbaum because he's paraphrasing, not translating.
>finally sit down and start reading Divine Comedy
>see this post and check the translation
>It's Mandelbaum
well shit
All the translations are shit. Mandelbaum at least is enjoyable.
I keep meaning to read the Longfellow translation. It's on my list of books to read this year. A poet translating another poet is bound to be better than some prose writer or mere academic translating it, right?
Yes.
>because he's paraphrasing, not translating
Is this true? I read his translation (or paraphrasing if so) and enjoyed it. Disappointing if it's really that far off the intended spirit of Dante.
>Is this true? I read his translation (or paraphrasing if so) and enjoyed it. Disappointing if it's really that far off the intended spirit of Dante.
Dont sweat it man. Eng translations are a mess, whats important is that you have gotten a taste for it.
It doesn't bother me, I already know I'm missing out on the actual work by not knowing the language, but it's disappointing if the translation is that inaccurate. Maybe one day I'll study Italian to read it proper, but I'm too focused on understanding French books.
Mark Musa is my favorite. But there is no genuinely great translation in English at the moment, and there probably never will be.
What are the best resources to learn Italian? Am I good with stuff like Duolinguo and Babble, or do I need something more specialized?
I should be learning Italian as it is, me and the rest of my family are going to have Italian citizenship soon.
Natura method. There’s a book for italian
doesnt teach pronuncations which makes it garbage.
Italian pronunciation is pretty straightforward. Just watch some videos to see hoe each letter is pronounced and all that.
>Italian pronunciation is pretty straightforward.
You don't speak Italian or French, if you did, you wouldn't say something this stupid.
Italian has a more consistent level of phohemicity than French. It’s on the level of Spanish. What seems to be the problem, you weak homosexual?
phonemicity*
That's not the problem you moronic pseud. You don't know any Romance language well enough to realize what the problem is, and that's on you.
I know 3 Romance languages (native speaker actually). Again, what’s your issue with Italian pronunciation? Don’t reply if you’re going to avoid the question again.
No you don't, otherwise you'd know why the Italian natural book is garbage.
Wait, I'm a German native speaker and how is German just in the middle? Every word is spoken phonetically just exactly how it is spelled.
No it’s not. Tons of exceptions.
Assimil, preferably older editions
Ciardi is an excellent edition for english speakers, and for understanding the meaning behind phrasing and the difficulty in evoking ideas in transposing them from Dante's Tuscan to modern English. It's almost two books, the translation, and a critical examination or exploration of the text itself.
I started yesterday but did not like the version I found. A fricking bilingual (spanish and italian) version with both verses side by side, then only spanish and then only italian. 3000+ pages almost impossible to navigate.
I just want to immerse myself in a christian world while enjoying the ride. Got the Angel Chiclana translation into spanish that seems to be the equivalent to Mandelbaum. I'll also play black metal during inferno, reggaeton during purgatory and gregorian chants during paradiso. It's all about atmosphere and not academic or historical significance for me.
another vote here for Ciardi
What about the Oxford Worlds Classics translation (Sisson)? Is it okay or should I look for another edition?
It’s good.
Good to hear. Thanks
Based thread. Mandelbaum is great, especially with Singleton’s notes. I like the balance in Hollander too.
kys
Seethe
ywnbaw
Read Paradise Lost.
Paradise Loft?
John Sinclair's prose translation.
test
John Ciardi's notes were helpful and acknowledged where a perfect translation from the original vulgar of the time isn't quite possible.