Learning by Translating

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language that goes to his heart.” (Nelson Mandela) – thanks JLibbey!

“If I’m selling to you, I speak your language. If I’m buying, ‘dann muessen Sie Deutsch sprechen’ [then you must speak German]“ (Willy Brandt) – thanks JLibbey!

“Translators live off the differences between languages, all the while working toward eliminating them.” (Edmond Cary) – merci Hélène!

“A mio avviso, può, chi scrive, discettare [...] intorno ai problemi dell’idioma: è bene che la materia dell’arte sia conosciuta e analizzata (oltreché tentata, sperimentata) da chi se ne vale ad esprimersi. Il legno del falegname, la lega ferrosa del siderurgista” (Carlo Emilio Gadda)

“The translator must strive to adopt the very soul of his author” (Alexander Fraser Tytler)

“I do love translating: it is the pure pleasure of writing without the misery of inventing” (Nancy Mitford)

“La traduzione di una cosa è il nostro sogno di quella cosa” (Serena Vitale)

“Paris can’t be London or New York, it must be Paris; our hero must be Pierre, not Peter; he must drink an apéritif, not a cocktail, smoke Gauloises, not Kents; and walk down the rue du Bac, not Back Street. On the other hand, when he is introduced to a lday, he’ll sound silly if he says: ‘I am enchanted, Madame’“ (Robert Adams)

And now, a little Photoshop creation made by me! It features Tytler’s quote, but I wrote it using the plural form instead of the singular one. If you want to post it in your blog, feel free to do so!

This is not really a “Learning by Translating” Special post because I received less translation quotes than expected. I actually expected more participation… maybe not everyone has a favourite translation quote?

Anyway, I’m starting my post with a quote that Chris (Textklick on Twitter) sent me:

Translation is that which transforms everything so that nothing changes. (Günter Grass)

He also wrote me (in Italian) that he loves translating as much as he loves Italian food! Thanks for participating, Chris!

Now I’m posting some other translation quotes I’ve found online lately.

Translation is a bit like shoveling coal. You scoop it up and toss it into the furnace. Each lump is a word, and each shovelful is another sentence, and if your back is strong enough and you have the stamina to keep at it for eight or ten hours at a stretch, you can keep the fire hot. (Paul Auster, The Book of Illusions)

Simultaneous interpretation is like driving a car that has a steering wheel but no brakes and no reverse.(Preter Pyotr Avaliani)

Translators can be considered as busy matchmakers who praise as extremely desirable a half-veiled beauty. They arouse an irresistible yearning for the original. (Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Art and Antiquity)

All I require of a translator is that he or she be a more gifted writer than I am, and in at least two languages, one of them mine. (Kurt Vonnegut)

Jakob Grimm compared the task of the translator with that of a sailor: the latter mans a ship, directs it with full sails to the opposing shore, but then has to land ‘where there is different earth and where different air plays.’ (Birgit Stolt)

It were as wise to cast a violet into a crucible that you might discover the formal principle of its color and odor, as seek to transfuse from one language into another the creations of a poet. The plant must spring again from its seed, or it will bear no flower – and this is the burthen of the curse of Babel. (Percy Bysshe Shelley, A Defense of Poetry)

Last, but not least, now “Learning by Translating” has an Official Facebook page! Click here to view it and become a fan of my blog!

I’ve just opened another blog category: LBT Specials.

The first special post I’d like to write is one on translation quotes. I know there is already a post on translation quotes, but this time I would like to write a post with LBT readers’ favourite translation quotes. If you wish to participate, don’t hesitate to send me an e-mail with your favourite quote(s) to ilaria.translations*@*live.com (remove the stars first!).

I will be posting all the quotes I receive next Sunday.

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Ho appena aperto una nuova categoria: LBT Specials.

Il primo special post che vorrei scrivere sarà dedicato alle citazioni sulla traduzione. Sì, lo so che ho già scritto un post a riguardo, ma questo sarà diverso: sarete voi lettori di “Learning by Translating” a “scriverlo”! Se desideri partecipare, manda pure un’e-mail con la/e tua/e citazione/i preferita/e sulla traduzione all’indirizzo ilaria.translations*@*live.com (rimuovi gli asterischi prima!).

Tutte le citazioni che riceverò saranno pubblicate domenica prossima.

Let’s start with a post about all my favourite quotes on translation and interpreting.

Inauguriamo il blog con un post contenente tutte le mie citazioni preferite sulla traduzione e l’interpretazione.

• Nel 1968 e 1969 “Lo scherzo” fu tradotto in tutte le lingue occidentali, ma con quali sorprese! [...] In un altro Paese incontrai il mio traduttore, un uomo che non sa una parola di ceco. Gli ho chiesto: “Allora come ha fatto a tradurre il libro?”. E lui mi rispose “Con il cuore”, e ha tirato fuori una foto dal portafoglio. (Milan Kundera)
• La vita di ogni creatura potrebbe dipendere un giorno dalla traduzione istantanea e precisa di una singola parola. (Paul Engle)
• Translating is communicating. (Eugène Nida)
• Without translation, there is no history of the world. (L. G. Kelly)
• An interpreter is like a mathematician. She approaches language as if it were an equation. Each word is instantly matched with its equivalent. (Kim)
• Communication is the very raison d’être of interpreting. (Vuorikoski)
• Translating a poem, if the creator is a craftsman, is like rescoring a piece of music for a different kind of musical ensemble. (Smith)
• Per tradurre un libro bisogna essere disposti a trasferirsi armi e bagagli nel libro stesso, e poi a restarci dentro: al libro, alla storia e anche all’autore, con il suo carattere e la sua vita, che non possono essere ignorati, visto che si dovrà conviverci almeno tanto a lungo quanto dura il lavoro di traduzione: dunque mai per poco tempo. (Laura Bocci)
• What I very much admire in interpreters is their unending curiosity, their boundless thirst for knowledge and their almost painful precision of their work [...] But without a doubt all interpreters love talking. That certainly seems to be linked with the profession. Some of our interviewees have described this spontaneity of communication as déformation professionnelle. (David Bernet)
• Interprète, mon frère, pour le client, l’auditeur, le seul orateur, c’est toi! (J.-D. Katz)
• Mentre un cattivo traduttore fa tutto il possibile per tradurre parola per parola, un buon traduttore si distacca dalla versione letterale solo quando questa è evidentemente inesatta. (Peter Newmark)
• Il traduttore non deve comprendere solo l’ovvio contenuto del messaggio, ma anche le sottili sfumature di significato, i valori emotivi importanti delle parole e le caratteristiche stilistiche che determinano il “sapore e la sensazione” del messaggio [...] In altre parole, oltre a conoscere due o più lingue coinvolte nel processo traduttivo, il traduttore deve conoscere a fondo l’argomento in questione. (Eugène Nida)