[…] “Always read the entire book before beginning your translation.” This was one of the first things I was told by professors in my master’s program in literary translation. At the time, it made perfect sense to me. After all, if you want to enjoy translating, you should translate something you like, and how do you know if you’ll like a book unless you read the whole thing?
But this past year, a colleague in my PhD program questioned this so-called rule. (I should say that she has a lot of experience in technical translation but was new to literary translation upon entering the program, so she hadn’t been indoctrinated with semesters of literary translation advice.) Her argument went something like this: If you read the entire book before you start translating, your knowledge of what happens in the book could “leak” into your translation. On the other hand, if you read the book while translating it, this readerly sense of suspense, including false assumptions and uncertain interpretations, comes through in your translation, and thus makes your translation more “true” to the reading experience. More.
See: Intralingo
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Comments about this article
United States
Local time: 01:50
Russian to English
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or twice, sometimes many times. What are they talking about? It is absolutely essential in literary translation. With regard to technical, or legal, well, perhaps you can just read the entire page.
Spain
Local time: 06:50
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
We are very obsessed indeed with naturalising/domesticating translations as if it was the only valid approach. At the request of publishers, we (I mean the vast majority of the translation community) very much produce a pre-digested target text, instead of preserving the foreign traits of works as a potential source of delight and knowledge for readers. If I am allowed the analogy, we as translators swal... See more
We are very obsessed indeed with naturalising/domesticating translations as if it was the only valid approach. At the request of publishers, we (I mean the vast majority of the translation community) very much produce a pre-digested target text, instead of preserving the foreign traits of works as a potential source of delight and knowledge for readers. If I am allowed the analogy, we as translators swallow up works and regurgitate the ideas back onto the paper, thus feeding readers not only with something that has completely lost its flavour, but also with a lot of our digestive juices (or prejudice, our whims and habits, our personal perception of the source culture and of the nature of our own culture, the mental artifacts imposed upon us by our age...).
We are so obsessed with naturalised translations that many translators even think that Venuti was in favour of naturalisation/domestication! As Berman(1) put it, "The properly ethical aim of the translating act is receiving the foreign as foreign". By NOT reading the full book before translation, we stay closer to the foreign nature of the text and its mechanisms of strangement, fully experience its twists and can convey them better, and are better prepared to produce similar effects in areas that are often neglected, like rhythm, syntax, and even the sound of the source text.
(1) Berman, A. (1985/2004) “La traduction comme épreuve de l’étranger”, Texte 4 (1985): 67-81, translated by L. Venuti as “Translation and the trials of the foreign”, in L. Venuti (ed.) (2004), pp. 276-89. ▲ Collapse
Germany
Local time: 06:50
German to English
I don't ... See more
I don't do literary translation, and since academic papers have convenient abstracts at the beginning to let you know the thesis and main arguments, I usually don't find it necessary to read the entire article in detail before starting. I've never run across any foreshadowing or (intentional) mysteries in academic papers, though. ▲ Collapse
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Local time: 06:50
Member (2009)
English to Croatian
+ ...
The system was not only to read the book before translating it, but also: study the author's biography, his or her contemporaries, historical background of the era, literary movements of the era, analyse the themes and motifs, and much more. Then after all this, you are *perhaps* ready to start translating the piece.
It was also important to read other "styles" so you are flexible with your language. For instance, if you are translating a novel, your... See more
The system was not only to read the book before translating it, but also: study the author's biography, his or her contemporaries, historical background of the era, literary movements of the era, analyse the themes and motifs, and much more. Then after all this, you are *perhaps* ready to start translating the piece.
It was also important to read other "styles" so you are flexible with your language. For instance, if you are translating a novel, your language skills will be different if you also read and analysed the poetry and drama pieces in the same time frame.
But in today's world of instant everything, yes, just mix it up and translate quickly. : D ▲ Collapse
Spain
Local time: 06:50
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
But in today's world of instant everything, yes, just mix it up and translate quickly. : D
It is not a matter of translating quickly at all. In fact, preserving the foreignness in a source text and translating in a more "Saussurean" way (i.e. sticking more to the source text and its rhythm, sound, and minute effects) both take a terribly long time and requires quite a mental effort.
Spain
Local time: 06:50
Member (2005)
English to Spanish
+ ...
The main problem I see arising with not reading the book before starting literary translation is foreshadowing. The first time you read a novel, you might not realize that a particular word or turn of phrase was chosen because of its foreshadowing effect. You therefore won't necessarily choose a translation that also foreshadows since you don't even know THAT you are foreshadowing, let alone WHAT you are foreshadowing.
Yes, but I think that in a more "to the letter" approach, you would have a low risk of destroying foreshadowing, rhymes (in the sense of repeated elements that enclose pieces of the story), or other deeper effects and intentions.
Did I use "foreshadowing" enough in that paragraph?
Yes, mission accomplished!
United States
Local time: 01:50
Russian to English
+ ...
I entirely agree with the idea of NOT reading the entire book before translating.
We are very obsessed indeed with naturalising/domesticating translations as if it was the only valid approach. At the request of publishers, we (I mean the vast majority of the translation community) very much produce a pre-digested target text, instead of preserving the foreign traits of works as a potential source of delight and knowledge for readers. If I am allowed the analogy, we as translators swallow up works and regurgitate the ideas back onto the paper, thus feeding readers not only with something that has completely lost its flavour, but also with a lot of our digestive juices (or prejudice, our whims and habits, our personal perception of the source culture and of the nature of our own culture, the mental artifacts imposed upon us by our age...).
We are so obsessed with naturalised translations that many translators even think that Venuti was in favour of naturalisation/domestication! As Berman(1) put it, "The properly ethical aim of the translating act is receiving the foreign as foreign". By NOT reading the full book before translation, we stay closer to the foreign nature of the text and its mechanisms of strangement, fully experience its twists and can convey them better, and are better prepared to produce similar effects in areas that are often neglected, like rhythm, syntax, and even the sound of the source text.
(1) Berman, A. (1985/2004) “La traduction comme épreuve de l’étranger”, Texte 4 (1985): 67-81, translated by L. Venuti as “Translation and the trials of the foreign”, in L. Venuti (ed.) (2004), pp. 276-89.
Translations of literary works should be true to the original in terms of content, style, dialogue, not naturalized. By making them too audience accessible, we destroy a part of their charm or perhaps even the whole work of art, turning it into cheap, sellable trash.
I still think you should read the whole book, at least once before translating it. I do.
[Edited at 2016-07-20 09:25 GMT]
France
Local time: 06:50
French to English
The main problem I see arising with not reading the book before starting literary translation is foreshadowing. The first time you read a novel, you might not realize that a particular word or turn of phrase was chosen because of its foreshadowing effect. You therefore won't necessarily choose a translation that also foreshadows since you don't even know THAT you are foreshadowing, let alone WHAT you are foreshadowing. Did I use "foreshadowing" enough in that paragraph?
If, however, you go all the way through checking everything after you've done your first draft, you will pick up on all this and make appropriate changes.
I personally can't stand just passively reading the text, so I do my first draft without reading through first. It's a terrible draft where I don't even bother to look anything up. It's just translated well enough to then distance myself from the source and focus more on making my prose flow naturally.
I don't do literary translation, but I do lots of pretty creative stuff, and take care to leave a sprinkling of French in to give enough of an exotic feel. In tourism especially, since I'd rather attract tourists who will enjoy the Frenchness of France rather than seeking out a Little England
Saudi Arabia
Local time: 08:50
Arabic to English
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[Edited at 2016-07-24 06:22 GMT] ▲ Collapse
Local time: 01:50
English to Spanish
As I did not read all the commentaries, I don't know whether someone refered to the time added if you read your assignments entirely. Isn't this issue important? Usually, our time is limited. How much does it take reading a whole book or document before translating it? Or should we take a course in fast reading before becoming translators?
Local time: 11:20
English to Hindi
+ ...
Purpose of translation is 'to carry across the meaning, retaining the sense.' Translator is not the author. And to carry out this task, a translator needs to read the book before starting a literary translation. A good translator can translate in a naturalized way, staying true to the original.
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:50
Member
English to Polish
+ ...
[Edited at 2016-07-24 18:46 GMT] ▲ Collapse
Local time: 01:50
Russian to English
Canada
Local time: 00:50
Member (2007)
Czech to English
+ ...
Nothing is cut-and-dried in this profession, but use the greatest machine ever conceived--your brain-- … do what is best for you--you don't need opinions, you only need yourself.
Thanks for putting it so well! The only thing I can think of to add is - best for you AND your (reader OR client) - they or their interest may not always be the same
There will be plenty of critics in either case
Regards Emil
India
Local time: 11:20
Member (2011)
Russian to English
+ ...
I'd just leaf through and browse the pages to get a feel of the language, syntax and the lexicon and if I am comfortable I'd start translating .
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