El modesto misterio

The essay by Eliot Weinberger is very cultivating. It made me want to learn about culture and language’s more. It is true we may all not know a whole bunch of languages but we may know enough to understand.  Translation can be very tricky and hard because it is like a role we have to fulfill. In order to try and get the same meaning and passage of the poem or book given. This passage talks about how each culture had their own way of growing and how they came around to being translated. For example, how the Chinese poets at first couldn’t even be translated because of the lack of not being able to study a foreign language. Something written in its original language may be hard to be translated. What caught my attention the most was the last part of the essay it says “ Translation is change and motion; literature dies when it stays the same, when it ahs no place to go” which is very true because it keeps people wanting to learn a new language and to learn about literature itself and where it comes from. 

Erika Loja

Don Quijote de la Mancha is written by Miguel Cervantes in the 17th century, it has been translated in so many different languages, and one of them is English. However, not all transaltions in English are identical, they all share the same idea and concepts but each author has their own style of writing therefore the translation is different. For example, there are four different translations by Ormsby (1885), Putnam (1949), Rutherford (2003), y Groosman (2003). It is important to notice the difference in time periods of when these translations were published. The reason being is because languages change throughout time, it improves. All these translators have different translations of Don Quijote. To start off the name of Don Quijote changes in all the translations but Putnam´s. One of the key sentences in all these translations is the following ” de cuyo nombre no quiero acordarme” all of the translators use the following “ I do not care to remember”, “ I have no desire to call to mind”, “ I have no desire to recall”, “I cannot quite recall”, “ I do not care to remember”. As you can see, all of them use different words to translate the same idea but in my opinion the translation of Groosman of this sentence is more accurate and closer to the original text. The time period when she wrote this plays a big role because as said before the language improves every time and the time affect the translation. Most recent translations can be more appreciated by the readers because it is easier to understand the words and it’s easier to understand. As Eliot Weinsberg once said “It’s true that no translation is identical to the original” In Translation, Translators on their work and what it means, edited by Esther Allen and Susan Bernofsky. All of these different translations share the same concept and ideas but they will never be the same.

Erika Loja

Reaction to the “Anonymous Sources” by Eliot Weinberger

According to Weinberger in his essay “Anonymous Sources” he assures that translation is a necessity. Although not everyone may think that it is a necessity because you don’t have to know other languages than your own, in my opinion knowing other languages is always an advantage in all aspects. Knowing and speaking a certain language is different from translating someone´s foreign work into a new language. I myself, am a Spanish speaker person but that doesn’t mean I am able to translate Spanish to English perfectly, I know some words but not all. There are more advantages of getting hired by companies because you are bilingual and are a translator rather than someone who lacks all of this. “Translation liberates the translation language” pg 18; this quote caught my attention because translation will never be the same as the original. It goes beyond that. You can change and use different words that have a similar or exact meaning to what the original text said. Weinberger affirms that no translation will be identical to the original text. He also gets aggravated when people say translation is problematic. In my opinion I think the reason why some people considered translation to be problematic is because it changes a lot of things from the original text but then again wouldn’t a literal translation be just boring? Translation is not about translating words one by one, it’s about translating the idea of the text into another way of writing.

The first thing that caught my attention in Eliot Weinberger essay “Anonymous Sources” is the phrase that he said at the very beginning “no single one of us can know all the languages of the world” and I believe he is right; there are so many words even in our own languages that we don’t know and we have to look up the meaning; now a second language even if we studied for decades there are still phrases that we won’t understand. Translation workshops started decades ago and as one of the examples that Weinberger use is the translation of Chinese poems into English, It is and admirable work to take a phrase and express the same feeling, in different worlds, in a different language. Translations open the doors to many good writers so the rest of the world can read their work, which reminds me of another quote from Weinberger’s essay “translation liberates the translation language”, which means that even though a translation is having the same text in two different languages, the translation is read as something new.

A translation is a necessity in this world but is not a problematic. Why consider something a problematic when it is actually an opportunity to expand horizons? And that is just to talk about the work, what about the translators? All the work they have to do and they still remain invisible, anonymous, presented as the translator for someone else work. If we can read a translation and read it a something new, we should also recognize the person who made that world. Writes have a lot of work because they have to come up with new ideas, but a translator work is more difficult because even though the idea is already there they have to put themselves in someone else shoes and explain what this other person felt in their own words. Translation means change. It is not something original but it is to create something new.

The translator is a key piece in the literature world. It help lectors to get new books to read and help the writers to get more audience, so then, why is it that when we read something from a foreign writer, we remember the name or the author the name of the translator?

Teresa Cabrera

Lo primero que puedo notar en esta auto análisis de Jose Manuel Prieto es que el muy crítico de su propio trabajo.  En esta análisis lo primero que le hace notar al lector es que traducir este poema es algo que el tomo muy en serio.  Jose Manuel Prieto menciona que el poema “Epigrama contra Stalin” le había costado la vida a Mandelstam. Después de muchos años Prieto decide volver a leer la y analizarla, y al hacerlo se dio cuenta de algunos errores que cometio la primera vez que lo traducido.

Es interesante leer como Jose Manuel Prieto piensa que es importante mencionar lo que estaba pasando en aquella época, la historia en Rusia. Es sorprendente como en su propia analisis el se pone en los zapatos del escritor.

Prieto critica la versión del poema en francés. Por eso el siente que tiene una gran responsabilidad al traducir el poema al español. El piensa que la esencia del poema en ruso se puede perder o se perdió al ser traducida.

Intro:

TINKERS      _     LOS HOJALATEROS

Paul Harding won the Pulitzer Prize for his book Tinkers. The story is about George Washington Crosby, as he lay dying. George Washington Crosby tells his own life from childhood to his the hospital bed in his dining room, he is then surrounded by all his family.

Through his story  George also tells the life of  Howard Crosby, his father, from the time he was a boy, until he dies in bed. Howard died, estranged from his first family. A first marriage through which he had  George.

After he retired, George Washington Crosby started fixing clocks as a hobby then to make extra money. He stows this extra money away in various bank accounts and safety deposit boxes around the city …

Sign, here. Crosby, how are you going to be one of my twelve? This was the part of the meeting with the agent that Howard dreaded-when Cullen quoted Bruce Barton. Who was the greatest business man ever, Crosby?  The greatest salesman?Advertiser?Who?Howard looked at the knot in Cullen’s cheap tie and smiled, trying not to look put out but trying not to answer the question, either. Come on, Crosby. Haven’t you read the book? I practically gave it to you for cost! Howard sighed and said, It was Jesus. That’s right, the agent said, half getting out of his chair, pounding a fist on the table, pointing a finger out toward heaven, past the new snowshoes hanging high on the walls. Jesus! Jesuswasthefounder of modernbusiness, he quoted. He was the most popular dinner guest in Jerusalem. He picked up twelve men from the bottom ranks of business and forged them into an organization that conquered the world! How are you going to be one of my twelve, Crosby, if you can’t sell, if you are not on fire to sell?

Firme aquí. ¿Crosby cómo vas a formar parte de mis doce?Cuando Cullen hizo referencia a Bruce Barton, fue el momento de la reunion con el agente que dio Howard más anxiedad.¿Quién fue el mayor empresario que jamás se ha visto, Crosby?¿El hombre de negocio más grande? ¿El publicista más grande? ¿Quién? Howard miró al nudo de la corbata barata  de Cullen y sonrió tratando no mostrarle su molestia sin responder a la pregunta. ¡Anda ya, Crosby!  ¿No has leído el libro? ¡Casi te le entregué! Howard suspiró y dijo: Fue Jesús. Exactamente, dijo el agente, casi  levantándose de su silla, golpeando la mesa con el puño, señalando con el dedo al cielo más allá de las nuevas raquetas de nieve colgadas a lo alto de la pared. ¡Jesús!

Jesús fue el fundador de las empresas modernas, citó. Fue el invitado más famoso de la cena 

Este párrafo de Don Quijote de La Mancha fue escrito en el año 1605. Desde entonces, diferentes traducciones han sido escritas entre las cuales las de John Ormsby en 1885, Samuel Putnam en 1949, John Rutherford 2003 y Edith Grossman en 2003.

Después de haber leído varias veces estas traducciones lo primero que puedo notar es el hecho de que la traducción de Edith Grossman es la más clara. El inglés es más moderno y es un inglés más simple a mí entender. Las palabras no son tan complejas comparado con las otras traducciones, la traducción de Grossman es más fluyente. Podemos observar que todas las otras traducciones empiezan con “In a village of La Mancha” a lo contrario de Grossman que empieza su traducción con “Somewhere in La Mancha.” Lo que se puede notar en esta frase es que Grossman decidió traducir esta frase de una manera más clara para los lectores del 2003.

En su traducción John Rutherford decidió traducir la palabra hidalgo con “gentlemen or hidalgo.” En cambio los otros traductores decidieron traducir nada mas como “gentlemen.” Rutherford quiso mantener la autenticidad del texto original. De la misma manera la traducción de la palabra “Quijada” todos los traductores lo tradujeron a “Quixada” menos Samuel Putnam que dejo la palabra así como esta.

Es evidente que cada traductor tiene su propio estilo. También dependiendo de la época en que lo escribieron el uso de las palabras cambia. Creo que la versión de Edith Grossman es más simple de entender, porque el vocabulario que usa es más común, más usado el día de hoy.

I decided to read the essay of Jose Manuel Prieto: “La ultima cena del capitalism.”  It is interesting because it is rare to see how a translator could review his own work.  In this essay he talks about the translation of the poem “Epigrama contra Stalin.” I noticed that all his work was a challenge but at the same time he felt proud and honor. To be able to make a coherent and concrete translation I realized that he used a detail description in order to make a coherent work.

It is interesting how a translator feels when translation the work of other author because this is not only a challenge but also an honor. He knew that the poem was also translated to French but he also knew that this version was not good enough compare with the original version. Prieto’s responsibility was to not loose the sense of the poem and try to make it as coherent as the original.

The essay Anonymous Sources by Eliot Weinberger explains how translations can be modified and provided in different ways. He describes the effects on translations from different cultures and languages and the meaning for it. I enjoyed when he explained how people who speak different languages have many things to say but without translation the message won’t get across to the people, as they want it to. I took that as that the writer is being limited to show his talents to the world and that isn’t fair, just because it’s in their own language many people won’t get to understand it.  Everyone should see the message the writer tries to portray. “Every reading of every poem is a translation into one’s own experience and knowledge- whether it is a confirmation, a contradiction, or an expansion.”  Something else that really caught my attention was when Weinberger explained how some poetry was written in other countries. For example Japanese poetry was written in Chinese and Latin poetry was in imitation of the Greek. With the Japanese, the reason they wrote in Chinese first was because they were greatly influenced by them and their style so then they integrated it into Japanese so they can write it in their language. It’s astonishing how a simple means of translations can go so far. Weinberger talks about how translation is the most anonymous of professions and that the authors don’t talk about their translators other then giving them compliments. How Weinberger was describing the translator, I took it as that they are not as important as the author. I do understand that without the author there would be no story but without the translator there would be no expansion of the authors message. Overall Weinberger explained how truly important translation can be, as he says, “Translation is change and motion; literature dies when it stays the same when it has no place to go.”

Magda Morales.

Un Moment Muy Largo By Silvina Bullrich

A Very Long Moment By Silvina Bullrich 

Pero no había mas remedio que salir a almorzar y abandonar ese cuarto cuya atmosfera pesada tenia algo de cueva, de celda y de pesebre

There was no choice but to go out for lunch and abandon that  room whose thick atmosphere was like a cave, a cell or a stable. 

Me detuve ante una tienda en la cual colgaban dentro y fuera pantalones de corderoy,  blusas de angas anchas, zapatilla de paja.

I stood in front of a door in which they hanged door in which hanged corduroy pants inside and outside, long wide blouses, espadrilles shoes

Ya me había dado cuenta de que a el no se le ocurriría ni por un instante que podía pagarlas y quise evitar la fugaz molestia que podía deslizarse entre nosotros.

 I had realized that he not for one instant it didn’t occur to him that he could of paid for them and I wanted to avoid the bother that could of happened between us.