Attending Andrew Zawacki’s reading translation of Sébastien Smirou’s See About: Bestiary showed a unique perspective and a different definition of translation. Never have I thought of a different definition for translation, but attending Mr. Zawacki’s reading gave a different insight on the same word. Translating is a form of art. It isn’t as easy as you think it is. As a person that’s bilingual, I believed translation is a piece of cake. That is, until you try translating yourself. You must be efficient in both languages and must know them by heart. There was always something said in a different language that I had difficulty translating. Zawacki talks about his experience translating, the hardships, and the benefits that came from this.  There isn’t an exact translation for every word. The techniques used by the author can also affect the translation process. There were poems that ended with an “oh” sound, and by changing this will change the meaning and definition of the original piece. There are always things that can be done in one area while it can be done in another area. In this case, it would be language. There is a certain rhythm in French that won’t be exactly the same in English. Zawacki knew that, which is why he tried his best to make every translation as meaningful as the original without losing its poetic feeling. Translating is an arduous process. Whether it is in a different language or not, translation will not be perfect, but perfection takes time.

Poems are probably the most difficult genre to translate. Before translating poetry it’s important to know the exact meaning of the poem so that there’s no misunderstanding with interpretation. Once you start to translate from another language to English you start to encounter the ambiguity that is found in the English language that is less likely to be found in French for instance. Andrew who speaks French can see the flow and romanticism that the original poem had which was something hard for him to recreate. To do so Andrew had to rely on the use of literary devices such as alteration.  I think that the biggest challenge when translating any writing is keeping the meaning as true as possible because in translation is almost impossible to not water down the poem a little. Whether the author is alive or not has its pros and cons. Some of the pros are that your work will be revised by the author which will for sure make the translation more true to the original text as possible. However, it also can make the process of translating the text even more challenging and stressful since the author will have high expectations of your work or in this case translation. When Andrew Zawacki was explaining how it was like to translate Sébastien Smirou’s poems something I found was very interesting was how when the author is alive he, of course, gets to criticize your work and make it the way he wants. An example that Mr. Zawacki gave was that Smirou wanted the font size of the letters to be the same as the one in the original book. He also wanted the spacing between the sentences to the same. These are little details that make a difference for the authors of these books, but of course, this won’t be able to happen if the author is dead. Finally, Andrew’s reading of his translation of Smirou’s poems showed me all the factor that must be taken in to count when translating someone’s work in order to make it as close to the original as possible.

Andrew Zawacki stated, “One reason why I translate is to cannibalize people and their feelings.” Translation is more than just matching words from one language to another. Mr. Zawacki made it clear that it is an opportunity to be someone else, to experience hardship that may have otherwise never been felt by oneself. It is a chance to express one’s feelings through words that someone else chose to best represent those feelings. I was in awe when Mr. Zawacki started to read the translations and how effortless it seemed. Another thing that stood out to me was when he stated that he was lucky his original writer was alive so that he can ask him questions on what certain things meant or how they were to be interpreted. I never really thought about that luxury and also the difficulty other translators may have when they don’t have the original source to confirm questions.

One of the pieces read was called “Turtle”. This was one of many in a series where the writer decided to write in the perspective of an animal. Something that would never speak or have the ability to express emotion clearly now has the words of an established writer to back it up. I thought this was really interesting and well done by both the writer and translator. I also found it intriguing how the writer began from a large animal, all the way to a tapeworm. It showed the distinction between pieces and highlighted that not every animal experiences the same things.

There were also techniques that were shown through translation. Mr. Zawacki expressed the importance of following the writer’s original way of things. This can be shown through techniques such as naming each poem where it will end in an “O”. He conveyed the difficulty he had in doing so while translating, and also how he overcame this challenge.

Overall, the experience of listening and hearing from a professional translator was an awesome experience. It is something that is never really thought about, yet holds such a great importance. Translating has had pivotal roles throughout history, including passing on history itself to other regions of the world, and it was an honor to see it first hand.

When I think of the word translation, I think of the basic definition of it which is the process of translating words of a text from one language in to another. But after hearing Mr. Andrew Zawacki speak about his take on translation and it what it really means for him, it changed how I viewed the word itself. Translation is not just changing something from one form to another, it is considered a work of art. Translation has a deeper meaning than what is on the surface and the process of it is very complex. Through it is very challenging, translation has many factors that can bring people together. Mr. Zawacki explained his journey of translating a text from French to English. He stated how he would go through so many words that ever existed in the English language just to capture the originality of what was said in French. The French language is very unique and there are words that cannot be translated. He also spoke about how he was translating a piece from someone who have died can be difficult because, in a way, because of the many questions you may have but there would not be an answer them, you wouldn’t have any guidance than the text in front of you. Like with many works of art, translation has many individual characteristics. Mr. Zawacki spoke about how the presentation of the text as well as the translation itself counts. The font, the spacing, the size of the text is crucial as well because of the message you are trying to send.

Before last week, it never occurred to me to think of translation as an art form. In fact, most students probably take it for granted when reading famous works in their English classes. But Andrew Zawacki’s unparalleled definition of translation shone a beautiful and artistic light on the overlooked art. When discussing his translations of the poet Sébastien Smirou, Zawacki likened his experience to that of a cannibal; he had to consume the precise and systematic mind of Smirou.  Zawacki explained that the process of translating a living person’s work is much more challenging than someone who is dead and cannot defend their work. The author can question and prod the translator and vice versa, which of course has its benefits and its pitfalls.

One thing that particularly struck me though, was the comparison of translating to interpretation. When we think of translating, or at least when I do, I assume it’s mathematical: for every input, you have an output, but Zawacki explained that it is far from being that simple. Poems intention and meaning are altered completely when translated, he explained, but that is the art of translating; the fact that one’s work shines in a different way then before. This was so fascinating to hear, especially because my brother is a French translator. I had always assumed his work was so easy, but now after hearing how complex and meticulous it is, I can appreciate the different ways of translating one thing.

Another thought that occurred to me is how much power translators hold. Nowadays, maybe not so much, but back in early civilization, translators had the gift of connecting different groups of people and if something was mistranslated, that could be the start of a war or create a lifelong enemy. One item that particularly jumps out is the Bible. After being translated so many times and passed down through centuries, how can we be sure that our interpretation is the intention of the first writers? This is an uncomfortable question, but the Bible is so deeply rooted into society and has caused so much turmoil between religions that I am forced to bring up the Bible and how it was translated.

What I learned about translation from Zawacki’s event is that translation is the art of interpreting the message of the author while also adding your own perspective. Zawacki explained this multiple times in between his reading that bits in pieces of the poems were translated from his point of view. Sometimes in translation, especially if the original author is no longer living it is on the translator to interpret the poem/ story to the best of their abilities since there is no one to ask for advice. For example, he mentioned that sometimes in translations he adds current events such as Tina Turner or the World Cup. Zawacki also explained the difficulties of translating such as finding English words that correlate with French terms. For instance in the “Glow Worm” the second poem “Word for Word” in French had to be translated to “Word to Moe” in order to fit the theme of the other poems that ended with”-oe”. Another complication faced by Zawacki while translating Sébastien Smirou poems was how strict the requirements were. Zawacki had to follow specific guidelines set by the author such as having the identical font, space, and format to the original French poem. Although, these tasks were difficult Zawacki expressed that he felt that this, later on, benefited him and helped him become a better translator. Overall, Zawacki addressed that translating from French to English can be hard at times due to French being a romantic language and English being harsh. As well, what he values most when translating is the flow of the poems and the sound of the text rather than translating the text word for word.

– Julienne Guzman

I never understood how intricate the process of translation was until I heard Andrew Zawacki speak of his experience translating. One of the very first things he mentioned when talking about his experience was the strong friendships that he created along the process. Translation is a form of friendship with you, the author, the story and most importantly the languages. Translation does not have to be word for word to convey the same meaning as the original writing.

Translation has many constrains because many words or phrases doesn’t have exact translation in other languages. Being trilingual and learning another language currently, I always face the problem of not being able to say something in another language with the same enthusiasm or strength as my original thought. Zawacki mentioned how demanding the author was about little things such as space and font. This is a clear conviction that every aspect of writing adds to the overall meaning of a story. When the writing is translated, it is just as important to keep in mind not to change the story in the process. It is even harder when different forms of writing are being translated such as sonnets which has an exact form that won’t be the same if you added or deleted a line. Zawacki emphasized how difficult it was for him to translate when there is a continues patter in the original writing because he had to mimic a similar patter to convey the same meaning in his translation. Because of all the barriers that come with translating, I feel that, a translated version of a literature is not quite the same as reading an original. However, I think translation is beautiful because it expands the audience of the writing. One of my favorite authors is the Paulo Coelho who writes most of his books in Portuguese, but I am only able to read his books because of translation.

-Sumaiya

On Wednesday,  October 11, Andrew Zawacki read from various books that he has translated and discussed his experience as a translator. Zawacki stated that “the reason to translate people is so you can cannibalize them”. As a translator, Zawacki explained that he was able to take on the role as a second author to the poems because the original author gave him the freedom to translate the work in a way that would express the true meaning of the poems, rather than strictly stick by the technical translation of the words. Translation can be difficult because of the writing techniques that writers use to shape their work. For example, in Zawacki’s case, there were a set of poems whose titles ended in the letter “o” or the “oh” sound. Translating the titles exactly would change this element, so Zawacki had to navigate the problem by creating new titles with the same meaning, shortening titles to have the “oh” sound, or keeping titles entirely. Zawacki explained that writing techniques such as fake etymologies and alliteration are some of the reasons why English is difficult to translate.

I was unaware that translation could be used as a way to not only physically transcribe the words of a work into a different language, but to transform a work in presented slightly different way so that a new audience could understand its meaning accurately. I also didn’t know how collaborative the process of translation was; often I think of translation as a step that happens after authors are dead, which is why I wasn’t aware that approval from the author even takes place. My favorite part of Zawacki’s presentation was how he compared his translation experience as a “reperforming, remixing or sampling” of the book; this explanation debunks many misconceptions about what translation is and how it is used to tackle literature.

-Sabrina Rodriguez

A translation is the process of converting the meaning of words in one language to another. Andrew Zawacki, however, expressed the theme of translation as not being “word for word” because a word’s meaning in one language can never be fully understood in another as its meaning gets lost in translation. In English, everything is watered down. Zawacki diluted certain words when translating from French to English but that did not change the meaning of the poem. If the reader is confused, it is for the right reason. For example, translating a rhyming poem in French cannot be translated into a rhyming poem in English. As Zawacki put it, some words just sound better in French solely because it is in French. However, English has more options vocabulary wise but when referring to pronouns such as “you,” it is not gender specific and remains ambiguous as to whether the “you” is male or female. This may seem to be a limitation for a translator but for Zawacki, translations allows him to say what he cannot say. He essentially translates a text by capturing the meaning of it through different sounds and accents that keeps the lyrical style of the French poems. While words are not universal, the feelings they reciprocate are and Zawacki does a good job in getting the essence of the poem by allowing the audience to understand the meaning of it through the emotions he had when reading it. The first poem he read, Doldrums, was an angry poem which he was able to translate by putting his own emotions into it. Such ways of translating  gives meaning to poems rather than “word for word” translations. 

– Sheik Floradewan

Translation refers to one language being expressed in another language. From one language to other language, translation is a very finicky job. Although it sounds very easy, it is not at all like that because when translating, a translator should pay attention to several things. While I was spending time with Andrew Zawacki, I learned how diligent he was when he translate. Zawacki said, if the poem that is translated by English does not sound like French, it does not look like a poem and even sound nicely. That is why he was trying to capture poetry, rhythm, poetic expressions, and intonation of poetry and the sounds of French accents very carefully when he translated French poetry. For example, English has a lots of terms and vocabularies, but Andrew Zawacki tried to use similar words and phrases as closely as possible to French pronunciation in order to arouse poetic inspiration in his translation. Of course, he did not forget to try to convey the meanings of each words. It was a kinds of hard task that requires great refinement. Because each original language has its unique characteristics, which are often difficult to show in the other languages, it is usually tough to appear in translated languages. However, as every translator or author does, Zawacki did not want to lose not only the meaning of each words but also poetic feeling. So, he conducted a translation with a careful check of the vocabulary and checking its meaning, even a small word he tried to capture its own meaning. He tried not to spoil the original atmosphere of the poem until the end. Through his story, therefore, I realized how complicated it was to preserve the creativity and originality of one piece when translating, and how important to deliver it to readers who use different languages in order to make them understand the themes and content of the work.