Poll: Do you translate literature? Would you? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you translate literature? Would you?".
This poll was originally submitted by Scriba
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you translate literature? Would you?".
This poll was originally submitted by Scriba
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629 ▲ Collapse
| | | | Javier Herrera (X)
Spanish
Actually, what is literature? A slogan is literature, a pun is literature, a tourist brochure is literature. Many of us may have done something like that and are not "literary translators".
I voted for "I don't but would". I consider myself talented for crafting language to some extent, I'm happy doing any of the aforementioned. I would love to do song lyrics or any other beautifully written text.
I wouldn't do novels or poetry. I'm sure others can do it better than I.
J.
<... See more Actually, what is literature? A slogan is literature, a pun is literature, a tourist brochure is literature. Many of us may have done something like that and are not "literary translators".
I voted for "I don't but would". I consider myself talented for crafting language to some extent, I'm happy doing any of the aforementioned. I would love to do song lyrics or any other beautifully written text.
I wouldn't do novels or poetry. I'm sure others can do it better than I.
J.
[Edited at 2005-11-14 09:54] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Parrot 
Spain
Local time: 03:46
Spanish to English
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| Actually, there was a time | Nov 14, 2005 |
when "translation" as taught in schools meant literary translation.
I already had experience when I enrolled, so I went through the treadmill protesting. My background in the field was UNCTAD, the Red Cross, the IMF, the World Tourism Organization - and we were going through excerpts from 19th-century novels. The German combinations were ploughing through Goethe and my brain was going "get real, man!" But the faculty were literary academe and no two words about it. I remember one da... See more when "translation" as taught in schools meant literary translation.
I already had experience when I enrolled, so I went through the treadmill protesting. My background in the field was UNCTAD, the Red Cross, the IMF, the World Tourism Organization - and we were going through excerpts from 19th-century novels. The German combinations were ploughing through Goethe and my brain was going "get real, man!" But the faculty were literary academe and no two words about it. I remember one day they had a practising guest engineer-translator over and that was the closest we got to real life.
Still, it wasn't a bad preparation. Not when you already know what's coming. Literature has a way of working in the same broad gap as the humanities in pre-law or pre-med. You land in praxis shell-shocked, of course. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Stephen Rifkind
Israel
Local time: 04:46
Member (2004)
French to English
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I have had the pleasure, if I can use that word in these cases, of translating two memoirs, one of Belorussian partisan and the other of a German Jew. I learned a lot about life and optimism and got paid for it as well. I would do it again any time.
Stephen Rifkind
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Apart from being translator, I'm also a writer, so literature is a kind of "logical" choice for me - of course I don't limit myself to it only.
| | | | | I wish I'd do it more often! | Nov 14, 2005 |
I had the luck of being a translator for several writers in very different genres (science fiction and children's fiction), and I enjoyed it very much. Actually, one of my dreams would be to translate a novel, even though I know literary translation doesn't pay off well. So you can imagine what my answer to this poll was!
| | | | Sam Berner
Australia
Local time: 11:46
Member (2003)
English to Arabic
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| Non-fiction = literature? | Nov 19, 2005 |
Javier Herrera wrote:
Actually, what is literature?
Yes, and kindly add copywriting, which is one hell of very interesting, but very difficult translation/adaptation/re-writing (your ideological choice, please).
I do non-ficition books: politics, philosophy, history, etc. specializing in Middle East issues. Needs a lot of crafting to get ideas and concepts across two vastly different mental sets. Is that literature, or am I a technical writer ?
Being old-school, however, literature to me personally is Homer, Jane Austen and Mickiewicz. And no, I would not dare touch something like this.
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