A fun interview. I like Denise’s definition of a bad translation as one that people don’t want to read.
Sometimes a translation can just go bad. In a 1978 interview in Translation Review, Gregory Rabassa said, “I have always felt that while the original endures and remains eternally young, the translation ages and must be replaced.” This suggests the translation process for a work is never really finished and must be revisited periodically.
I appreciate LALT’s focus on today’s writing (perhaps as a way to keep the project manageable), but wonder about the classics, many of which probably need refreshed translations.
A fun interview. I like Denise’s definition of a bad translation as one that people don’t want to read.
Sometimes a translation can just go bad. In a 1978 interview in Translation Review, Gregory Rabassa said, “I have always felt that while the original endures and remains eternally young, the translation ages and must be replaced.” This suggests the translation process for a work is never really finished and must be revisited periodically.
I appreciate LALT’s focus on today’s writing (perhaps as a way to keep the project manageable), but wonder about the classics, many of which probably need refreshed translations.