Why Translation?

Hello Culture Enthusiasts,

 

Welcome to blog 2. We are very happy you stop by to check this week’s topic.

 

Why translation?

 

“Why are you a translator, your job will not exist in x years anyway?”

 

 

Surprisingly, this is a commonly asked question that implicitly asks why does translation matter?

It’s even more common nowadays, especially with the rise of automatic translators, like Google Translate. As if human translators are not involved in creating all automatic translation behind the scene…. Nevertheless, translation of course matters, how else would, let’s say Americans learn about the great Jean Jacques Rousseau? Or how would we know the best minds from ancient to modern times for that matter?

The important thing to notice is that the answer will vary depending on to whom does it matter. Like literature, translation gives insight into the essence of our humanity. Beyond introduction to a broader range of literary works, it allows us to access different angles of an author’s thought process, hence different angles of the human experience (Edith Grossman). Sometimes, it’s the difference between walking free or going to jail. Or the difference between being an active participant in your child’s or your own life and healthcare, when war and economic chaos force you to look for a better life away from your homeland.

 

Sometimes, it’s the difference between walking free or going to jail. Or the difference between being an active participant in your child’s or your own life and healthcare, when war and economic chaos force you to look for a better life away from your homeland.

 

Had I listened to the many people, albeit some well-intentioned, who told me that the translation field will be obsolete ‘in a few years’, I wouldn’t have known how self-employment can also translate into such comprehensive freedom. The old saying, ‘you will never know until you try’ always rings true.

Every translator, sooner or later, realizes that translation goes beyond bilingualism or multilingualism. For anyone who has ever thought that should check William Weaver’s well illustrated quick peek into his own translation process with respect to Carlo Emilio Gadda’s work.

It is the use of strategies, principles, and most importantly the ability to make informed choices between the simplest ‘maybe’ or ‘perhaps’ (William Weaver), or the apparently obvious ‘mouse’ or ‘rat’ (Umberto Eco) that will allow one to dissect all the complexities of a text within a systematic framework. For many in the field, that’s what translation is: a process of finding the most suitable equivalence among sometimes multiple options. For the translator is constantly and simultaneously switching between two main roles, that of a listener (of the source) and of a speaker (of the target), merging two distinct perspectives of the human experience into one.

 

“For the translator is constantly and simultaneously switching between two main roles, that of a listener (of the source) and of a speaker (of the target), merging two distinct perspectives of the human experience into one.”

 

 

Whether you choose to remain traditional by sticking to the ‘rudimentary’ aspects of the language, or you adopt the so-called language evolution approach (though often influenced by an inferiority complex stemmed from the idea that some languages are superior to others based on economic standing in the world), translation is always a negotiation (Umberto Eco). And since, “No two languages are ever so similar that they represent the same social reality” and we know that language and culture are intertwined with the latter being the reference point of the sooner, cultural understanding is at the center of that negotiation.

 

“No two languages are ever so similar that they represent the same social reality” (Edward Sapir)

 

As Weaver puts it, “there are no rules, no laws, there cannot be an absolute right, or an absolute wrong. [Though] there can be errors”. This is probably why many people translate. The challenges are enticing, the abundance of options constantly stimulate neuronal activities in your frontal lobe, the thrill of finding what you know is a great fit is incomparable.

And the result is bridging communication gaps to connect cultures around the globe in ways that technology and monolingual literary work alone, will not suffice. In addition, all of this can be done in the comfort of your bed if you want it to be so.

If you are a freedom, language, and culture enthusiast, and you recognize that you already have these important skills, the question should be, How do you harvest and use them for the greater good?

 

For as long as there are various social groups living different cultural realities, the need for human translation will also remain a reality.

 

 

Now, think of 3 positive things about your own language and culture.

Enjoy the wonderful feeling of positivity!

Till next time.

Xo

 

References:

Eco, Umberto. Mouse or Rat?: Translation as Negotiation. London: Phoenix, 2004.

Grossman, Edith. Why Translation Matters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2011.

Sapir, E. “The Status of Linguistics as a Science.” Language5, no. 4 (1929): 207. https://doi.org/10.2307/409588.

“The Process of Translation.” The Edinburgh Journal of Gadda Studies. Accessed May 3, 2020. https://www.gadda.ed.ac.uk/Pages/resources/babelgadda/babeng/weavertranslation.php.

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