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Published on Monday, 12 May 2014 09:00
Written by Andrew Morris

A sculptor was once asked how he could carve such a magnificent likeness of his own head out of a block of marble. His reply? ‘I simply remove that which isn’t me.’

I first started as a full-time translator five years ago. Like just about everyone, I accepted whatever work came my way from the various agencies that deigned to take me on. Council meeting minutes, perfume descriptions, environmental awareness leaflets and restaurant menus.

True, I enjoyed some translations more than others, either for the fascination of their content or the flow of their prose, but I simply saw such highs and lows as a normal part of the job. Still, I was mildly troubled by the fact that I felt so alive when translating the history of a cathedral and quite so beset by a sense of gloom when wading through pages of what Mr X said to Ms Y at Meeting Z.

This was compounded of course by the commonly held belief that surely a good translator should be able to turn even plodding prose into gold?

Now I know better. It is of course entirely possible to weave golden thread out of council minutes, but it helps a great deal if such documents light your fire – if the cut and thrust of dialogue and policy are what get you springing out of bed in the morning, punching the air.

There are translators like that, just as there are those who are impassioned by ball bearings, captivated by nuclear power, scintillated by mediaeval art or riveted by financial analyses.

Each of us has a unique contribution to make to the world of translation. But only if we first reflect on who we are and what inspires us, and honour that.

It was Edison who said that genius is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration. But like all clichés, it’s only partly true. Have you ever noticed that on the days you are 99% inspired, you forget all about perspiration? How when you are in ‘the zone’, or in ‘flow’, or ‘the element’, your mind and body sing with the translation you are producing? More.

See: The Pillar Box | ITI

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