Is That a Fish in Your Ear? (49 page)
Read Is That a Fish in Your Ear? Online
Authors: David Bellos
10. THE MYTH OF LITERAL TRANSLATION
According to Naomi Seidman, “One would be hard put to name a major defence of word-for-word translation before the modern period.”
Faithful Renderings: Jewish-Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), 75.
Faithful Renderings: Jewish-Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006), 75.
George Steiner,
After Babel
, 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 251.
After Babel
, 3rd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 251.
Nicolas Herberay des Essarts, translator’s preface to
Amadis de Gaule
(1540), ed. Michel Bideaux (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2006), 168. My translation.
Amadis de Gaule
(1540), ed. Michel Bideaux (Paris: Honoré Champion, 2006), 168. My translation.
Octavio Paz,
Un poema di John Donne: Traducción literaria y literali-dad
(Barcelona: Tusquets, 1990), 13.
Un poema di John Donne: Traducción literaria y literali-dad
(Barcelona: Tusquets, 1990), 13.
Quoted by one of Kelly’s former colleagues at Ottawa University on
Unprofessional Translation
(blog).
Unprofessional Translation
(blog).
Mark Twain,
The Jumping Frog, in English, then in French, then clawed back into a civilized language once more by patient, unremunerated toil
(New York: Harper & Bros., 1903), 39–40.
The Jumping Frog, in English, then in French, then clawed back into a civilized language once more by patient, unremunerated toil
(New York: Harper & Bros., 1903), 39–40.
Michael Israel, “The Rhetoric of ‘Literal Meaning,’” in
The Literal and Non-Literal in Language and Thought
, eds. Sean Coulson and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2005), 147–238.
The Literal and Non-Literal in Language and Thought
, eds. Sean Coulson and Barbara Lewandowska-Tomaszczyk (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2005), 147–238.
See Dominique Jullien,
Les Amoureux de Schéhérézade: Variations sur les Mille et Une Nuits
(Geneva: Droz, 2009), for a discussion of the cultural issues surrounding Mardrus’s translation.
Les Amoureux de Schéhérézade: Variations sur les Mille et Une Nuits
(Geneva: Droz, 2009), for a discussion of the cultural issues surrounding Mardrus’s translation.
Quoted in ibid., 107. My translation.
André Gide, in
La Revue blanche
, XXI:475 (January 1900), quoted in Jullien,
Amoureux de Schéhérézade
, 110.
La Revue blanche
, XXI:475 (January 1900), quoted in Jullien,
Amoureux de Schéhérézade
, 110.
J.-C. Mardrus, letter to the editor in
Revue critique d’histoire et de littérature
XLI.26:515 (June 1900), quoted in Jullien,
Amoureux de Schéhérézade
, 85.
Revue critique d’histoire et de littérature
XLI.26:515 (June 1900), quoted in Jullien,
Amoureux de Schéhérézade
, 85.
11. THE ISSUE OF TRUST
Roy Harris,
The Origin of Writing
(London: Duckworth, 1986), 177. Writing has been invented four times: by the Maya, in pre-Columbian America; in China; in ancient Egypt; and in Mesopotamia. All modern writing systems derive from just two of these inventions, and all alphabetic scripts from just one.
The Origin of Writing
(London: Duckworth, 1986), 177. Writing has been invented four times: by the Maya, in pre-Columbian America; in China; in ancient Egypt; and in Mesopotamia. All modern writing systems derive from just two of these inventions, and all alphabetic scripts from just one.
The term
primary orality
was coined by Walter J. Ong. See his
Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word
(London: Methuen, 1982).
primary orality
was coined by Walter J. Ong. See his
Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word
(London: Methuen, 1982).
Universal literacy was first achieved in most Western European countries at some point between 1860 and 1920. In other parts of the world it is even more recent than that; and in many of them it remains a long way off.
Leo Tolstoy,
War and Peace
, trans. Rosemary Edmonds (London: Penguin Books, 1957), 1153.
War and Peace
, trans. Rosemary Edmonds (London: Penguin Books, 1957), 1153.
In practice, when relations are cordial, the ancient protocol is often abandoned, and the two translators take it in turn to translate both ways in twenty-minute shifts, just as they would when working in more public encounters. But for discussions on major topics between heads of state and of government, there can be no question of having only one translator present.
Ismail Kadare’s
Palace of Dreams
(New York: William Morrow, 1993) is an ironic fiction about Ottoman dream records with some basis in historical fact.
Palace of Dreams
(New York: William Morrow, 1993) is an ironic fiction about Ottoman dream records with some basis in historical fact.
See E. Natalie Rothman, “Interpreting Dragomans: Boundaries and Crossings in the Early Modern Mediterranean,”
Comparative Studies in Society and History
51:4 (2009): 771–800, for far more detail than is possible here.
Comparative Studies in Society and History
51:4 (2009): 771–800, for far more detail than is possible here.
Ziggurat
(a pyramidal temple) is generally reckoned to be the only other word of Akkadian in English, but it came into the language only in the nineteenth century.
(a pyramidal temple) is generally reckoned to be the only other word of Akkadian in English, but it came into the language only in the nineteenth century.
The Three-Arched Bridge
(New York: Arcade, 1997) and “The Blinding Order” (published in
Agamemnon’s Daughter
, New York: Arcade, 2006) complement
The Palace of Dreams
in this respect.
(New York: Arcade, 1997) and “The Blinding Order” (published in
Agamemnon’s Daughter
, New York: Arcade, 2006) complement
The Palace of Dreams
in this respect.
French started to be used in this role in the seventeenth century, and in the nineteenth it displaced Italian entirely.
The example is from Bernard Lewis,
From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 29.
From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 29.
Ibid., 27.
George Abbott,
Under the Turk in Constantinople
(New York: Macmillan, 1920), 46, quoted in Judy Laffan, “Navigating Empires: ‘British’ Dragomans and Changing Identity in the Nineteenth-Century Levant,” unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Queensland, Australia.
Under the Turk in Constantinople
(New York: Macmillan, 1920), 46, quoted in Judy Laffan, “Navigating Empires: ‘British’ Dragomans and Changing Identity in the Nineteenth-Century Levant,” unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Queensland, Australia.
Ibid.
Preface to Françoise Sagan,
That Mad Ache
, trans. Douglas Hofstadter (New York: Basic Books, 2009).
That Mad Ache
, trans. Douglas Hofstadter (New York: Basic Books, 2009).
See Allan Cunningham, “Dragomania: The Dragomans of the British Embassy in Turkey,”
Middle Eastern Affairs
2 (1961): 81–100.
Middle Eastern Affairs
2 (1961): 81–100.
12. CUSTOM CUTS
Stephen Owen, “World Poetry,” a review of Bei Dao’s
The August Sleepwalker
, trans. Bonnie McDougall,
New Republic
, November 1990.
The August Sleepwalker
, trans. Bonnie McDougall,
New Republic
, November 1990.
For a list of foreign film stars and their established German voices, see the Deutsche Synchronsprecher website,
www.deutsche-synchronsprecher.de
.
www.deutsche-synchronsprecher.de
.
Le Monde
, August 7, 2010: 14.
, August 7, 2010: 14.
Vladimir Nabokov, “Introduction,” in
Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Aleksandr Pushkin
(New York: Routledge, 1964), I:vii–ix.
Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse by Aleksandr Pushkin
(New York: Routledge, 1964), I:vii–ix.
Vladimir Nabokov, “The Servile Path,” in
On Translation
, ed. Reuben Brewer (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959), 97–110.
On Translation
, ed. Reuben Brewer (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959), 97–110.
Georges Perec, letter to Denise Getzler (circa 1963),
Littératures
(Toulouse) 6 (spring 1983): 63.
Littératures
(Toulouse) 6 (spring 1983): 63.
13. WHAT CAN’T BE SAID CAN’T BE TRANSLATED
See
www.packingtownreview.com/blog
, post dated December 2, 2007.
www.packingtownreview.com/blog
, post dated December 2, 2007.
Thom Satterlee, “Robert Frost’s Views on Translation,”
Delos
(1996): 46–52; Satterlee finds a kind of source in an essay by Ezra Pound, “How I Began” (1913), but which claims the opposite: “I would know what was accounted poetry everywhere, what part of poetry was ‘indestructible,’ what part could
not be lost
in translation.”
Delos
(1996): 46–52; Satterlee finds a kind of source in an essay by Ezra Pound, “How I Began” (1913), but which claims the opposite: “I would know what was accounted poetry everywhere, what part of poetry was ‘indestructible,’ what part could
not be lost
in translation.”
Ludwig Wittgenstein,
Tractatus Logico-philosophicus
(1921), Proposition 74:
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, davon muß man schweigen
.
Tractatus Logico-philosophicus
(1921), Proposition 74:
Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, davon muß man schweigen
.
English-language philosophers since Willard Van Orman Quine have treated this issue at length. My position reflects that of Donald Davidson as I understand it from the commentary provided by J. E. Malpas in “The Intertranslatability of Natural Languages,”
Synthese
78 (1989), 233–64.
Synthese
78 (1989), 233–64.
Romain Gary,
White Dog
(1970; repr., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 5.
White Dog
(1970; repr., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004), 5.
Marshall Sahlins,
The Western Illusion of Human Nature
(Chicago: Prickly Paradigm, 2008), takes this argument much further. Christine Kenneally,
The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language
(New York: Penguin, 2007), gives an up-to-date report on current research that is fast undermining the distinction between “language” and “signal” and between human and nonhuman communication.
The Western Illusion of Human Nature
(Chicago: Prickly Paradigm, 2008), takes this argument much further. Christine Kenneally,
The First Word: The Search for the Origins of Language
(New York: Penguin, 2007), gives an up-to-date report on current research that is fast undermining the distinction between “language” and “signal” and between human and nonhuman communication.
Mark E. Laidre and Jessica L. Yorzinski, “The Silent Bared-Teeth Face and the Crest-Raise of the Mandrill (
Mandrillus sphinx
): A Contextual Analysis of Signal Function,”
Ethology
111 (2005): 143–57. A standard introduction to the field of animal sign systems is Thomas A. Sebeok,
How Animals Communicate
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977).
Mandrillus sphinx
): A Contextual Analysis of Signal Function,”
Ethology
111 (2005): 143–57. A standard introduction to the field of animal sign systems is Thomas A. Sebeok,
How Animals Communicate
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1977).
14. HOW MANY WORDS DO WE HAVE FOR COFFEE?
Laura Martin, “‘Eskimo Words for Snow’: A Case Study in the Genesis and Decay of an Anthropological Example,”
American Anthropologist
88:2 (1986): 418–23, explained and defended by Geoffrey Pullum in
The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), 159–73.
American Anthropologist
88:2 (1986): 418–23, explained and defended by Geoffrey Pullum in
The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent Essays on the Study of Language
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991), 159–73.
Inuit languages are agglutinative and typically express what would be complex expressions in English by suffixes and prefixes added to the stem word. As a result, Inuits have uncountably many “words” for everything. Each word form contains indicators of qualities and roles that in English would be expressed by many separate words. It’s as pointless to say that some Inuit language has twenty or sixty or eighty words for “snow” as to say that Hungarian has seventeen words for “Anna.”
Published in
The Works of Sir William Jones
(London: Robinson and Evans, 1799).
The Works of Sir William Jones
(London: Robinson and Evans, 1799).
Wilhelm Freiherr von Humboldt,
Prüfung der Untersuchungen über die Urbewohner Hispaniens vermittelst der vaskischen Sprache
(Berlin: Dümmler, 1821).
Prüfung der Untersuchungen über die Urbewohner Hispaniens vermittelst der vaskischen Sprache
(Berlin: Dümmler, 1821).
Wilhelm Freiherr von Humboldt,
Über die Entstehung der gramma-tischen Formen und ihren Einfluss auf die Ideenentwicklung
(Berlin: König. Akad. der Wissenschaften, 1823).
Über die Entstehung der gramma-tischen Formen und ihren Einfluss auf die Ideenentwicklung
(Berlin: König. Akad. der Wissenschaften, 1823).
See Lera Boroditsky’s report on this language at
www.edge.org/3rd_culture/boroditsky09/boroditsky09_index.html
.
www.edge.org/3rd_culture/boroditsky09/boroditsky09_index.html
.
Edward Sapir, “Abnormal Types of Speech in Nootka” (1915), in
Selected Writings in Language, Culture and Personality
, ed. David G. Mandel-baum (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1956), 179–96.
Selected Writings in Language, Culture and Personality
, ed. David G. Mandel-baum (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1956), 179–96.
Hilary Henson,
British Social Anthropologists and Language
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974), 11.
British Social Anthropologists and Language
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1974), 11.
Mildred L. Larson,
Meaning-Based Translation
(Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984), 158.
Meaning-Based Translation
(Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1984), 158.
E. J. Payne,
History of the New World Called America
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899), II:103, quoted in Henson,
British Social Anthropologists
, 10.
History of the New World Called America
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1899), II:103, quoted in Henson,
British Social Anthropologists
, 10.
See Michael Coe,
Breaking the Maya Code
(London: Thames & Hudson, 1999).
Breaking the Maya Code
(London: Thames & Hudson, 1999).
15. BIBLES AND BANANAS
Figures from Philip Noss, ed.,
A History of Bible Translation
(Rome: Edizioni di Storia et letteratura, 2007), 24.
A History of Bible Translation
(Rome: Edizioni di Storia et letteratura, 2007), 24.
Jan de Waard and Eugene A. Nida,
From One Language to Another: Functional Equivalence in Bible Translating
(Nashville, TN: Nelson, 1986).
From One Language to Another: Functional Equivalence in Bible Translating
(Nashville, TN: Nelson, 1986).
Edesio Sánchez-Cetina, “Word of God, Word of the People,” in Noss,
History
, 395.
History
, 395.
Daud Soeslo, “Bible Translation in Asia–Pacific and the Americas,” in Noss,
History
, 165–66, 175.
History
, 165–66, 175.
Eugene Nida,
Fascinated by Languages
(Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2003).
Fascinated by Languages
(Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2003).
Richard Rohrbaugh,
The New Testament in Cross-Cultural Perspective
(Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2007), quoted in
The Social Sciences and Biblical Translation
, ed. Dietmar Neufeld (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2008), ix.
The New Testament in Cross-Cultural Perspective
(Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2007), quoted in
The Social Sciences and Biblical Translation
, ed. Dietmar Neufeld (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2008), ix.
Neufeld,
Social Sciences
, 3.
Social Sciences
, 3.
Leora Batnitsky, “Translation as Transcendence: A Glimpse into the Workshop of the Buber-Rosenzweig Bible Translation,”
New German Critique
70 (1997): 87–116.
New German Critique
70 (1997): 87–116.
Gott sprach zu Mosche / Ich werde dasein, als der ich dasein werde. / Und sprach: / So sollst du zu den Söhnen Jifsraels sprechen: / ICH BIN DA schickt mich zu euch / Und weiter sprach Gott zu Mosche: / So sollst du den Söhnen Jifsraels sprechen: / ER, / der Gott eurer Väter / der Gott Abrahams, der Gott / Jitzchaks, der Gott Jakobs / schickt mich zu euch. / Das ist mein Name in Weltzeit / das mein Gendenken, Geschlecht für / Geschlecht.
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