| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Translating fiction books Thread poster: Anna A. K.
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[quote]Jan Truper wrote:
Anna1307 wrote:
Keep in mind that romance novels can have a surprisingly large gay readership.
What do you mean by that?
| | | | Jan Truper 
Germany
Local time: 00:56
Member (2016)
English to German
[quote]Veronica Montserrat wrote:
Jan Truper wrote: Anna1307 wrote:
Keep in mind that romance novels can have a surprisingly large gay readership.
What do you mean by that?
This was actually an instruction I received once when I was working on a similar project -- the client wanted to make sure that translators do not use any offensive terminology in this regard (which, as I know from several multi-language-projects I was involved in, happens way too often).
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[quote]Jan Truper wrote:
Veronica Montserrat wrote: Jan Truper wrote: Anna1307 wrote:
Keep in mind that romance novels can have a surprisingly large gay readership.
What do you mean by that? This was actually an instruction I received once when I was working on a similar project -- the client wanted to make sure that translators do not use any offensive terminology in this regard (which, as I know from several multi-language-projects I was involved in, happens way too often).
Oh, ok. But why would a translator use any offensive language if there isn't any in the source? I mean, a translator's job is to translate nor to rewrite. Thank you for explaining anyways.
| | | | Jan Truper
Germany
Local time: 00:56
Member (2016)
English to German
Veronica Montserrat wrote: Oh, ok. But why would a translator use any offensive language if there isn't any in the source? I mean, a translator's job is to translate nor to rewrite. Thank you for explaining anyways.
When translating fiction, you can exercise options within a narrow scope, since the goal is not verbatim rendition, but an entertaining product.
You often have choices to lean this way or that way, and it happens all too fast that translators instill a bit of judgment. It doesn't have to boil down to a blatantly offensive word, but many translators lack the required sensibility.
In some languages and cultures, this seems to be more prevalent than in others.
You can witness that here on Proz, too, where people sometimes post misogynistic (misogynist? misogynous? misogynic? misogynistical?) or homophobic slurs without even realizing it.
[Edited at 2022-03-07 20:31 GMT]
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:56
Member (2008)
Italian to English
| I don't know how she does it | Mar 8, 2022 |
I've been reading quite a lot of Orhan Pamuk, translated into English from the original Turkish by Maureen Freely. I don't know how on earth she does it but in the translation, there's a delicacy, and an evanescent irony, that Pamuk only slightly expresses in his writing.
I know Maureen Freely works closely with Pamuk, She is fluent in the Turkish language, and has been conversant from an early age with Turkish culture, life, and history. These, I would think, are similar to the m... See more I've been reading quite a lot of Orhan Pamuk, translated into English from the original Turkish by Maureen Freely. I don't know how on earth she does it but in the translation, there's a delicacy, and an evanescent irony, that Pamuk only slightly expresses in his writing.
I know Maureen Freely works closely with Pamuk, She is fluent in the Turkish language, and has been conversant from an early age with Turkish culture, life, and history. These, I would think, are similar to the minimum attributes (in any language) required for a translator of (serious) fiction. I suspect some other requirements would be to have a secure academic position, no concerns about how little you're being paid, and plenty of time to do a thorough job.
I don't speak a word of Turkish, and I would be interested to hear from some Turkish translator colleagues what they think of Maureen Freely's translations. To me (a modest translator of technical reports, birth certificates, construction documents, and the like) she stands at the pinnacle of an unattainable ideal!
In this video she describes translating as being "caught in the middle" and getting into arguments with Pamuk, both "pleasant and unpleasant" .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEQb99SfcvA
[Edited at 2022-03-08 13:46 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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