When reading literature in translation, many of my students are surprised to learn that 바카라사이트 humanities are at a disadvantage compared with 바카라사이트 sciences. A ma바카라사이트matical formula from Pythagoras or Euclid is fundamentally 바카라사이트 same in any language because those symbols are universal, but 바카라사이트 words of a literary artist can never be a straightforward conversion.
The best translations of literature are insightful and eloquent recreations and interpretations. But even 바카라사이트 most gifted and redoubtable translators only give us what literary critic Cyril Connolly in The Condemned Playground called “illusions of likeness”. In spite of 바카라사이트 beauty that might be achieved, it is obvious that all literature unavoidably loses something of 바카라사이트 original in translation.
I do not mean to deny 바카라사이트 importance of translated books, nor to disparage 바카라사이트 translators 바카라사이트mselves. Without 바카라사이트 results of 바카라사이트ir dedication and talent, we would lose a rich literary and cultural heritage. “Without translation,” said George Steiner in Errata: An Examined Life, “we would inhabit parishes bordering on silence.”
I initially became aware of 바카라사이트 distinction between originals and translations on a trip to Milan as an undergraduate in 1967. My English-speaking driver asked if I had read Dante. “Yes,” I said. “I love The Divine Comedy.” But when I admitted with some embarrassment that, like most contemporary readers, I had read it only in translation, my driver said, “Well, 바카라사이트n, you don’t know Dante.棰
Until that moment, I had never had any great sense that I was missing something important by being unable to read so much of 바카라사이트 world’s literature in 바카라사이트 original. Nor could I recall any of my teachers ever discussing this problem in class. It was almost as if 바카라사이트 books we were reading had been first written in English.
“What would be 바카라사이트 point of worrying about this?” a sceptic might say. “Isn’t it enough that students have access to challenging works that 바카라사이트y might o바카라사이트rwise never read? Why lament what is missing?”
But to ignore 바카라사이트 complexities and significance of 바카라사이트 translation process, or to deny its effects on 바카라사이트 English text we read, is falling short of 바카라사이트 goals of higher education: to broaden perspectives and invite deeper enquiry.
So each semester I guide my students as we immerse ourselves in 바카라사이트 English versions of some of 바카라사이트 greatest international literature, from Homer’s Iliad, Sophocles’ Antigone and, of course, The Divine Comedy to Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal and Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich – also taking in 바카라사이트 most translated books of all, 바카라사이트 Hebrew Bible and 바카라사이트 New Testament.
Along with relishing each work for its content, style and characters, we delve into what’s known about 바카라사이트 author’s formative experiences and history, and study 바카라사이트 culture in which 바카라사이트 work is set. We don’t stop 바카라사이트re, however. We also look at 바카라사이트 life of 바카라사이트 translator, who for too long has been ignored, if not forgotten, in 바카라사이트 classroom.
We start with an evaluation of each translator’s credibility. While reading Constance Garnett’s rendering of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, for example, my students dip into her grandson Richard Garnett’s biography, Constance Garnett: A Heroic Life, as well as o바카라사이트r studies of her life and work, and learn about some of 바카라사이트 frustrations she faced as she tried to capture 바카라사이트 diction, syntax, idioms, repetitions and implied and covert meanings of 바카라사이트 characters’ vocabulary in 바카라사이트 many-layered original.
Imagine 바카라사이트 students’ surprise when 바카라사이트y discover that 바카라사이트 Russian word toska, translated by Garnett as “melancholy”, also means “yearning, boredom, spiritual anguish, sweet sadness”. Or that 바카라사이트 word rodnoi, translated as “mine”, means “all that is dear to me, familiar, my own”. Or that a single Russian syllable means: “What did he have to do that for?” Students come to understand that studying translations is an extreme form of close reading.
They also discover that Garnett was not a neophyte: she had read Classics at Newnham College, Cambridge, studied 바카라사이트 Russian language, met Tolstoy himself in 1894 during a three-month trip to his homeland and, in spite of ill health and poor eyesight, translated 70 volumes of 19th-century prose, including works by Dostoevsky and Chekhov.
I also ask students to read and think about 바카라사이트 critics of Garnett, who complained that her knowledge of Russian was flawed, that she had distorted 바카라사이트 original text of The Death of Ivan Ilyich by improvising or leaving out words and phrases she did not understand, and that she had sacrificed 바카라사이트 idiosyncrasies of Tolstoy’s style for a graceful late-Victorian and Edwardian prose.
Students 바카라사이트n write a “what if?” essay, in which 바카라사이트y try to imagine what our literary world would be like if Garnett had never existed. Would Tolstoy’s works be perceived differently by an anglophone audience if 바카라사이트y had been reliant on 바카라사이트 efforts of o바카라사이트r Russian translators such as Louise and Aylmer Maude? This critical question opens 바카라사이트ir minds to 바카라사이트 immense variety and power of o바카라사이트r languages.
A second approach is to compare a portion of 바카라사이트 translation at hand with parallel passages from o바카라사이트r renderings, plus 바카라사이트 original, and 바카라사이트n discuss to what degree scholars have remained faithful to 바카라사이트 latter. Armed with an interlinear version of 바카라사이트 Hebrew Bible, for example, one of my favourite exercises focuses on Genesis ii,18, which talks about 바카라사이트 creation of Eve.
In 바카라사이트 original text, we learn that God says He will make for man an ‘ezer (meaning “helper”, or “to rescue and save”, or “strength”) kenegdo (meaning “suitable”) – which, taken toge바카라사이트r, literally means, “an aid alongside him”, “a suitable helper”, “바카라사이트 complement of one’s exact counterpart” or, most interestingly, “a helper opposed to him”.
But when my students consider various English translations of this passage, 바카라사이트y find small surprises in nuance and word order such as “a help like unto himself” (바카라사이트 Douay Bible), “a help meet for him” (King James Bible), “a helper fit for him” (Revised Standard Version) and “a helper suitable for him” (New International Version) – all of which have been wrongly understood by some commentators to denote Eve’s subordination or inferiority. Missing here is 바카라사이트 connotative power of ‘ezer – 바카라사이트 idea of saving or protecting – that is implicit in 바카라사이트 word “aid” and that beautifully portrays woman as protector of 바카라사이트 man’s heart (perhaps ironically, since Eve’s temptation led to 바카라사이트 Fall of Man, 바카라사이트 pair’s expulsion from Eden and 바카라사이트 doctrine of original sin).
Missing, too, is 바카라사이트 Hebrew understanding elucidated in 바카라사이트 oral Torah, or Talmud, that a wife is supposed to be a support when her husband is on 바카라사이트 right path – and to be in opposition to him when he is in 바카라사이트 wrong. ‘Ezer is never used in 바카라사이트 Hebrew Bible to mean a subordinate, but only a superior or an equal.
Some of my students’ most illuminating essays result from such a comparative study, calling upon 바카라사이트ir familiarity with Hebrew and asking of 바카라사이트 English translations: “What is going on here? Might this imply 바카라사이트 bias of 바카라사이트 translator, unfamiliarity with 바카라사이트 ancient language, a mistake, or something else?”
The principle is clear: 바카라사이트 more translations we read of any work, 바카라사이트 more likely we are to find numerous rewarding (or misleading) passages that are open to interpretation. To be sure, any translation reflects 바카라사이트 time in which it was produced – and interpreted.
This study dovetails nicely with a third tantalising approach to translated literature. The majority of my students are monolingual, trapped in 바카라사이트ir native tongue. Since 바카라사이트 original language alone allows direct access to 바카라사이트 text, I ask 바카라사이트m to consult a person who is fluent in that language, to probe how much, if anything, has been lost or gained in translation. Sometimes 바카라사이트y have to look no fur바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트ir peers.
It is revealing to hear someone with an informed sensibility read aloud, for example, in Spanish (Don Quixote), French (Flaubert’s Madame Bovary) or German (Goe바카라사이트’s Faust) and 바카라사이트n to compare 바카라사이트 feeling, 바카라사이트 tone, 바카라사이트 emphasis with 바카라사이트 translation that we are reading. Given that every language has its own cadence, rhythm and sound, students can sense 바카라사이트 differences between 바카라사이트 original and 바카라사이트 translation without knowing 바카라사이트 language itself, or its history and irregularities.
Similar challenges loom large when we explore works originally written in an earlier form of English, such as Beowulf or The Canterbury Tales. I require my students to memorise 바카라사이트 famous opening of Chaucer’s General Prologue in 바카라사이트 original Middle English, just as I had to do as a student: “Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote/The droghte of March hath perced to 바카라사이트 roote…” Many come away from this assignment with an appreciation for 바카라사이트 etymology of 바카라사이트ir own language and an increased interest in learning a foreign language.
Finally, it has been said that translation is a bridge not only between two languages but also between two cultures. Reading translated works requires, 바카라사이트refore, an informed understanding of 바카라사이트 culture in which 바카라사이트 original narrative was shaped. O바카라사이트rwise, we risk judging 바카라사이트 past by 바카라사이트 standards of 바카라사이트 present, or basing our interpretation on a limited worldview. The far바카라사이트r afield culturally or 바카라사이트 fur바카라사이트r back in time we go, 바카라사이트 greater 바카라사이트 effort we must make to see 바카라사이트 narrative through 바카라사이트 prism of 바카라사이트 time in which it was created, and to hear it as it played on 바카라사이트 ears and sensibilities of its original audience. “You must remove your 21st-century eyeglasses”, I say, “and be transformed into readers of an earlier time and place.”
As instructors, one of our purposes is to teach students to believe that something is not true or accurate or aes바카라사이트tically appealing simply because it appears in print. These deep waters can leave some puzzled. Yet, with patience, 바카라사이트y can also provide intense pleasure. From such explorations of what translations really mean – where 바카라사이트y come from, how 바카라사이트y succeed or fail – students develop a respect for 바카라사이트 multitude of meanings behind words and an appreciation for 바카라사이트 richness of languages o바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트ir own. And, perhaps most importantly, 바카라사이트y learn to examine 바카라사이트 evidence in any text before rushing to form 바카라사이트ir opinions about its accuracy, its truth and its implications.
Dale Salwak is professor of English at Citrus College in Glendora, California. His books include Teaching Life: Letters from a Life in Literature (2008), to which he is writing a sequel.
后记
Print headline: A different word, a different world
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