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| User | Thread poster: Nathalie Schon Translating fiction : literature, comics. |
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Nathalie Schon 
France
Local time: 18:55
German to French
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I am a translator and subtitler (French-German-English). My favorite jobs require a creative mind. That's why I gladly accept to translate fiction, films, advertizement, books dealing with art, art history etc... if both parties can agree on a rate. Let's not forget, a creative translation requires skills that can't be measured by a CAT-tool or only by a word-count program and it deserves a rate that allows the translator to be creative. It's not just about accuracy. It's about ...
Whole article with visual material:
http://www.leblogdelamirabelle.net/pages/Translation_of_fiction-1073085.html
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KSL Berlin
Germany
Local time: 18:55
German to English
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I had heard about the German Disney comics, but this was the first time I actually saw any examples. I've heard about the translator, however, for decades, but I really never thought anything good could be done with the useless English originals. Nothing was, really....
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Nathalie Schon
France
Local time: 18:55
German to French
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TOPIC STARTER |
Well, it was rewritten, only the general meaning was kept.
Instead of : "I'm really angry with you, Donald"
the German would say stuff like "Here is the winter of our discontent"
Carl Barks, who had probably no say, the comics being a property of the Walt Disney Company, but was asked nevertheless afterwards I think, was actually very pleased with the German version.
The French version is as dull as the original. This was a real translation : dull = dull.
So sometimes it's better to go wild (but in Europe you better make sure the publisher AND the author are ok with it, especially in France where the author always retains the copyright : "droit d'auteur", the publisher getting something like a license and the translator creating a new copyright for his/her translation and also granting the publisher a license to use it).
[Edited at 2009-02-09 23:25 GMT]
[Edited at 2009-02-09 23:26 GMT]
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Heinrich Pesch
Finland
Local time: 19:55
 Member (2003)
Finnish to German
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| | Same in Finnish | Feb 10, 2009 |
In Finland Donald Duck (Aku Ankka) became very popular right from the start about 1950 because the translators created their own version. I'm no expert in comics, never read it much, but Donald Duck has had much influence on its readers here in Finland. Mickey Mouse on the other hand never became very popular, this figure is just too colourless and dull, always on the winning side.
The Finnish version of the German Jerry Cotton series was another great success due to the creative effort of the translators. In fact they never bothered about the German text but wrote the stories anew almost from scratch, with lots of humour (so I'm told, never read either German or Finnish JC).
Regards
Heinrich
[Bearbeitet am 2009-02-10 10:28 GMT]
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 09:55
 Member
English to German
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| | The creative effort of translators | Feb 10, 2009 |
My all-time favorite: Asterix
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Nathalie Schon
France
Local time: 18:55
German to French
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TOPIC STARTER |
Hey thanks for the info !
Very interesting that other countries had the same approach!
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xxxAribas
Serbia
Local time: 18:55
English to Serbian
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| | Nomen est.... | Feb 10, 2009 |
Nicole Schnell wrote:
My all-time favorite: Asterix
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It is interesting how the names of the characters got creatively translated / adapted (hmmm... transculturized?) in various cultures/languages, or even various editions/translations in the same language:
Panoramix: Getafix (English), Magigimmix (Am. Eng.), Aspiriniks (Serbian), Čudomix (Croatian), Omnipotentix (Latin), Miraculix (German), Abrakadabrix (Afrikaans)...;
Assurancetourix: Cacofonix (Br.Eng.), Malacoustix (Am.Eng.), Drmatoriks (Serbian), Tamburix (Croatian), Troubadix / Schimmihendrix (German), Cantorix / Armavirumquecanix (Latin)...;
Abraracourcix: Vitalstatistix (Br.Eng.), Macroeconomix (Am.Eng.), Drmatoriks (Serbian), Vrhovnix (Croatian), Majestix (German), Manumilitarix (Latin)....
My other cross-culture favourites are: Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
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Jenny Forbes
United Kingdom
Local time: 17:55
 Member (2006)
French to English
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Nicole Schnell wrote:
My all-time favorite: Asterix
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I'm a big Asterix fan too. Wow! Wouldn't it be fun (not to mention a challenge) to be commissioned to translate him! How to deal with all those punning names ending in "ix" - even including a character called "Assurancetousrix"?
Best wishes,
Jenny
P.S. I have occasionally had to translate the dialogue of a computer or X-Box type game - presumably to be voiced over by an actor. As I love that kind of game, I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge (not the bang! bang! you're dead sort of game, the ones where you try to solve a mystery, find your way through a fantastic landscape, that kind of thing).
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Nathalie Schon
France
Local time: 18:55
German to French
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TOPIC STARTER | | Asterix and Video Games | Feb 10, 2009 |
My father used to buy the German Asterix edition and the text was great. The names were hilarious in German too, like "Kurzschluss", "Haudraufundschluss"
I am working on a videogame too for kids !
It's really fun, I agree !
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Annett Hieber
Germany
Local time: 18:55
Member (2008)
English to German
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In general, I'm not a comics fan. However, Asterix is the only one I ever read, in German (or in Latin as well). However, I must admit that I only tried to read Asterix in English two or three months ago for the first time - and was really fascinated. Now, I'm admiring the highly creative translators who do such jobs!
Annett
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Nathalie Schon
France
Local time: 18:55
German to French
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TOPIC STARTER |
A Japanese friend of mine translates mangas into French.
He says he always works with a French partner and that you have to cut loose of the original text.
Once I had to translate a song in "Victor, Victoria". That was fun !
On the stage :
"Das Land, wo Carmen ist zu Haus/ Ich muss hier raus" :
"Le pays où Carmen habite/ cette scène, il faut que je quitte"
or
"Diese Schlange hat mich versetzt" : "Ce serpent m'a posé un lapin !"
Film is discussed in my other thread if you are interested : http://www.proz.com/forum/subtitling/127193-my_approach_to_subtitling.html
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xxxEuMC2
| | German versus French | Feb 13, 2009 |
NathalieSchon wrote:
"Das Land, wo Carmen ist zu Haus/ Ich muss hier raus" :
"Le pays où Carmen habite/ cette scène, il faut que je quitte"
or
"Diese Schlange hat mich versetzt" : "Ce serpent m'a posé un lapin !"
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Obviously, we must always consider the flood of consonants in German
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hoare-spitall
Germany
Local time: 18:55
German to English
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| | Asterix in dialect. | Feb 17, 2009 |
NathalieSchon wrote:
My father used to buy the German Asterix edition and the text was great. The names were hilarious in German too, like "Kurzschluss", "Haudraufundschluss"
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Try the Asterix German translations in regional dialect. In Kölsch or Mosel-Fränkisch they take on a whole new dimension. "Wat er nit säht"
You have a very pleasing website. Well done.
[Edited at 2009-02-17 21:54 GMT]
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hoare-spitall
Germany
Local time: 18:55
German to English
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| | Asterix in dialect. | Feb 17, 2009 |
NathalieSchon wrote:
My father used to buy the German Asterix edition and the text was great. The names were hilarious in German too, like "Kurzschluss", "Haudraufundschluss"
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Try the Asterix German translations in regional dialect. In Kölsch or Mosel-Fränkisch they take on a whole new dimension. "Wat er nit säht"
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Nathalie Schon
France
Local time: 18:55
German to French
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TOPIC STARTER | | Saarländisch | Feb 17, 2009 |
Thanks. I've tried Saarländisch.
That's the dialect I speak but I fel like trying other regional dialects!
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