A mistake and lack of research on my part. It was meant to be a minor point I distantly recalled hearing others say-I should have looked into it more. Thank you.
@@TheWorldWithintheWord 🤗 Iambic pentameter, which is almost synonymous with English poetry, is the verse type very commonly or quite traditionally used to translate ancient hexameters, btw, to English. You can also look up blank verse.
"There tends to be a focus on what is lost in translation, but very little in what is gained" hit the nail in the coffin. I'm in favour of retention of original writing but if 99% of readers are unable to decipher how to read the book or decipher the intended meaning, what are we truly complaining about?
I love literal translations when possible although there are a lot of things in translation notes that are important, like the P&V versions of Tolstoy will reuse the same English word where the same Russian word is, partially to be literal but partially because a lot of translators will change it up to sound nicer but Tolstoy wasn't that good at writing in that sense, and would just use the same word over and over. So in that case the detail also translates some of the originals style not just the content. But there are some shorter works or poetic works that can really benefit from a few readings. I'd like to read some of the classic poems like Homer in a more literal translation, I've started the Iliad by Latimore (Lattimore?), but then I plan on finding a translation that preserves some of the feel, either with imagery and stuff or with the actual rhythm and sound. The biggest thing is just that every translation is a different book, it's like dialects vs languages, but then Arabic languages are all considered dialects even when they aren't mutually intelligible. Just read whichever book you prefer, and be mindful of the differences from other options and from the original. Also important to note things like I was looking at the Kama Sutra and the main and most easily found translation is from the 1800's by a white British man and with some editing to be slightly acceptable in public society (still couldn't be properly published but he found workarounds). But with this not only is the meaning a bit cleansed but it brings in some more sexist viewpoints from his internal biases. Several new versions present it more modernly, whether entirely accurate or not. One that I believe is a female translator has been accused of possibly adding in some meanings or ideas that aren't present in the original text, but that still presents new insights and ideas if you acknowledge the changes from translation and don't prescribe those words to the original author.
@@concerninghobbits5536 Nah bro you speak the truth. The best aspect is that you can 2 students of the same subject that have completely different interpretations based upon their culture, relgion and general world views. I don’t personally delve into poetry rather early philosophy. What’s intriguing for me is that poetry doesn’t differ far from poetry rather a more informative than expressive way of critical or any type of thinking. I’m so glad you mentioned the dialects of Arabic as that’s exactly why I stand with preservation. If Arabs of today struggle to decipher 7th century Arabic (the Quran in particular) considering there isn’t a “base” Arabic language to follow on today - give or take your standpoint on what is universally understood or has the closest roots etc etc - then you can have massive misconceptions on words that have multiple meanings or can have as many give or take context (pronunciation and even emotion if it doesn’t count as an interested category already). May I ask why you dived into the Kama Sutra? Interestingly enough if we have any scholar, translator etc that gives an interpretation we are so quick to just agree even if that’s what they aim best to do despite it just being a standpoint (we can never truly be impartial given our limited understanding).
Very good video. It is very interesting to hear that translations are not the norm in english, as a german I've very rarely seen a book I'm interested in not translated into german. The 3% mark is quite depressing honestly and also shows why popular english speaking book youtubers only seem to show novels which were originally published in english because they just don't have the means to read books not published originally in english. "There tends to be a focus on what is lost in translation, but very little in what is gained" is a very good point. I recently started to read novels originally published in english in their original language and while it is difficult to understand sometimes, especially on difficult novels like thomas pynchons gravity's rainbow, I actually see, especially in the way characters talk and prose, that something is indeed lost in translation, but I should also look at the other way around and appreciate what is gained. Gravity's rainbow title in german for example is called 'Die Enden der Parabel' which literal translation would be 'the ends of the parabola' which is not a literal translation of the original title which should be something like 'Des Schwerkrafts Regenbogen' but a translation which opted to keep the pun that pynchon intended with the original title intact.
what a touching analysis. as an aspiring literary translator of english and italian into german, this touched on the many reasons why i choose to pursue this profession, and the obstacles i have faced and still am facing along the way. how i wish your essay had been mandatory viewing during my undergrad - how many more nuanced discussions of literature in translation it would have produced! thank u!
This is a spectacular video. As societies become more multi-cultural, we are all bound to live in communities influenced by works written in languages and cultures that are not originally our own I think many readers don't consider your points of 1/ it is a good thing to make literature accessible to more readers, 2/ translating cultural meaning may be more important to the overall meaning of the text than "just" the literal words, and 3/ you may not like the literature even in its original language. Thank you for bringing these points up and more - definitely made me reconsider some texts I read during my English degree undergrad.
Thank you so much for watching and the kind words 🙏 this is exactly what I'm hoping to do with this video, bringing some new points to the discussion that a lot of people don't consider
This was beautifully made!!! Adding the end recommendations to my list right now. Thank you for your care on such an important topic. I’ve seen people on TH-cam talk about their favorite translators but I fear that’s not the common practice. To all translators out there, thank you!!!
This is a really wonderful video. Thank you for taking the time to put it together. It's rare nowadays that a youtube video can grasp my full attention but I sat through this all the way.
Thank you so much for this! As a person from the Global South (where being multilingual is often the case, because of the afterlives of colonialism); it's always been interesting to see the relationship that Westerners (especially Anglo ones) have with literature in translation. Separated by language from our neighbours, translation has often been the only way for us to access the work of writers in/ from those countries and I'm glad more Western English-only readers are coming round to it. Thank you for the recommendations, links, and insight. Looking forward to more essays!
You hit multiple important points really well, and your choice of sources is very good too. Thank you for this video, it is a good and well-supported take on the subject. Re translator representation, it showed me a lot I didn't realise about the situation in English-language publishing, because I used to think that translators were usually well-represented there. In my country, Russia, the practice has always been not to feature the translator on the cover, only on the title page within the book. Translators often remain unnoticed by a wider public, unless they are "good old" names from the Soviet past, when some famous translations were published which people have become used to.
Thank you for watching! It's a shame when translators go unacknowledged, because not only is it just good to credit them, but I also think it's good to be able to follow their work more easily. I know multiple translators whose work I will be interested in picking up even when I don't know the writer they're translating. When translators are obscured a bit more in the process it's harder to follow them like that.
Great video. As German I always find it interesting how different the discussion or conversation about translations is in English. Accessibility in translations in German is the norm, but the input of translators or even the naming on covers has never occured to me before hearing English native speakers talk about translations.
Yes, the percentage of translated literature in Germany and Italy is somewhere around 30% I believe, a much higher and acceptable percentage! The US, UK, and Australia should definitely take note.
Translating text really is a thougher and more creative job than people realise. It's difficult to translate prose, with its puns, wordplays and references, to adapt it all into a form reader can understand and recognise, not to mention all the grammar rules and other technical aspects. And it's even harder with poetry! Sometimes, even translating my own words from one language to another proves difficult. Every word has a certain weight, a history attached to it that stems through centuries, a context you need to capture. As an amateur translator of random bits from movies, shows or books I want to show my foreign friends, I finally understood it all. It's true that a translator can make or break the story; but as it turns out, it's not simply linked to the 'faithfulness' as people tend to see it. Translating is like constructing a machine from a plan you recieved, and then spending time on certain parts and details to make it work in your enviroment. It's hard, it's wonderful, and it should definitely be appreciated more. On another note, as a person from Poland most of the books I own (and a significant number of the ones being sold) are translations. However, enormous percentage of those are translations from english. In recent months, I tried to broaden my horizons by reading literature from other countries, but it's hard to come by books (that are not already a guaranteed succes) translated into polish from another languages, so sometimes I just end up reading the english translations of foreign classic. That being said, there's been a wave of new (especially east asian) literature being available on the market, shared by smaller publishers. I really hope that this trend keeps up and we will be able to enjoy stories from all around the world, told by skilled translators who love their craft
Yes, one thing I didn't mention in the video is how Europe's publication percentage for translated literature is much higher, and while I didn't research the numbers (because I was mainly focusing on the anglo-sphere), I think it's highly likely that even though translated literature published in Europe is much higher, that it's also a result of anglo-focused publishing and how hard the US and UK push their literature onto foreign markets (something foreign markets don't do within the anglo-sphere, which I did briefly mention).
Fantastic video! as a student for a master's program in translation studies I appreciate how you pointed out the role of translators and how often they are forgotten... Thank you again for your work! 😊
Truthfully, I've been sceptical of Smith's translations since first reading some of her work years ago. I'm a native English speaker, but I speak Korean as well, though it's been a long process and I've only been capable of truly reading and appreciating full novels fairly recently. I'd intended to read Han Kang's work in Korean, but after watching this I will honestly likely read both the original and the translation.
As an Italian at the beginning it was really difficult to follow these speeches on English and American channels. Because in Italy mani people reads almost exclusively translated literature. The problem in Italy is the opposite, almost everyone will choose between a book with an Italian author and a book with a foreign author that of the foreign author. In Italy there are practically opposite groups: those who prefer Japanese literature, those who love American literature, those who love English literature, those who love Russian literature and a little less those who love French literature and those who love South American literature. For example, we have a publishing house that only publishes literature only from Northern Europe. The problem is that in Italy there is a rampant xenophilia which translates into considering everything created in Italy mediocre and of low quality: be it cinema, television, music, books, comics, graphic novels. And the little love for our artistic work makes it even more difficult to make the translation of our books abroad attractive. A change has begun to be seen thanks to the Italian publishing house Edizioni E/O (Europa Editions) which slowly, also thanks to the fame of Elena Ferrante, has slowly managed to bring more and more Italian authors around Europe and America. But it must be said that the American public is really difficult to convince to accept something from outside, because as you remind us, for books they often don't trust translators and if we think about the audiovisual world such as cinema this continuous hatred for dubbing leads to more and more to throw down and not discover directors, actors and actresses from others countries. And to think that we in Italy have the worst American films like Sharknado or others that are nominated for the Razzie Awards dubbed with the same skill with which Scorsese's latest film is dubbed. And yet sometimes you find reviews of international films by Americans who give one star because dubbing shouldn't be there. Another trend that is emerging in Italy, to make it clear how strange all this is, is the use of foreign pseudonyms to sell one's books because it is now known that the foreign name is almost synonymous with a "good" book. All this to say that it is really difficult to understand how the Anglo-Saxon world deals with certain issues.
Yes, I think some of these issues also stem from how the anglo-sphere pushes our own literature onto foreign markets, and I also imagine just being in Europe (as well as many other countries, especially in Asia), being at least somewhat bilingual is normalised much more, you're also open to translated literature a lot more in that sense. In the US especially, people are very belligerant towards other cultures. It's definitely strange how widely these things change culturally between continents.
Beautifully said. Thank you so much for this wonderful video, and for bringing light and attention to a topic rarely discussed, we really can take translators and their invaluable works for granted. I myself am always trying to read more translated works so I greatly appreciate your recommendations. ♥️
This video was amazing. Not only it helped solved an issue in my day to day life, it also aided me in discover amazing new pieces of literaturate. Thank you ever so much for such astonishing work!
@TheWorldWithintheWord I am not a native English speaker. Therefore, I am used to reading translations on a regular basis. It is a common heald belief that prioritizing reading in the original language is better (because most of the classics are originally written in said language). Plus, it is claimed that there's information you miss sowly for not reading the original material. Your video helped me hold a different point of view regarding what I'll read for now onwards. I must say that in more than one occasion I have turned down books due to them being translations in English
thanks for making this video essay. for everyone looking for more translated works, Tilted Axis Press is worth looking into. this small publishing house focuses on translated asian literature *and* they make a point of putting translator’s name on the cover. i believe they were the ones who published Tomb of Sand.
i have to admit that i cried at the beginning for Smith being blamed that his Han Kang translation wasn't "faithful" according to some :( im studying to be a translator just like Smith and people don't have a clue how hard it is to take an original text and change basically everything but also change nothing. Google translate could never translate The Vegetarian just like Smith did. AI could never translate The Vegetarian just like Smith did. the meaning of a text is hidden so far back the actual words on the page, that technology will probably never be able to find it. I hope to be just like Smith in a future, and I hope more people start realising how important translators are to society
"I can't learn to read every single language" but I can, I will learn every language in it's written form and no amount of facts and logic can change my mind. Surely I won't learn like two and then die at a moderate to old age...
Love the video but if I say something is far better in the original language personally it's usually me not liking English as much lol the greatest respect to translators! (Also biased since I'm a bilingual who struggled with keeping my second language.) Awesome video, the translations are always their own piece of literature.
As someone who doesn't speak english as a first language but reads a lot in it (because I speaks a language where most of the major world Classic hasn't been translated or even if it has it doesn't have good translations) I really appreciate it because the only way for me to access a lot of world literature, is the English language(for better or for worse) and english readers becoming more aware of these issues is just a win for me. I also wish that I could show this to a lot of writers and readers who speaks my language. Idk why a lot of readers and writers of my language has this notion that our language's literature couldn't be translated into other languages and also has this condescending attitude towards translations and people who read translations(because apparently,in their logic translated literature is always inferior and bad) of those books.There has also been cases of established writers disparaging translators and translations of their own works and it's just sad how parochial and pretentious their World view is while producing 3rd rate books. It has just produced a culture which is just harmful for everyone. Also, you should really do a bookshelf tour.
I might combine a bookshelf tour and an essay on collecting in the future! I had done something similar in a video I made before I started scripting, I would like to produce a better version. Thank you for watching!
I'm a language learner and I think you put into words something I was grappling with. I want to read the Chinese authors Lu Xun and Jin Yong as I've been learning Chinese for a while but I was setting it aside until my Chinese was good enough, but then they write at a level I'm not able to read anyways so its dumb. I'm taking a break from Chinese so I should give them a chance regardless, sadly not all of their works have been translated yet so there is a point in learning Chinese. I would like to eventually translate some of Jin Yong to my native language (Spanish), I believe only 1 novel got translated? Yet his works in China sold hundreds of millions, he is a really underrated writer outside of the sinosphere allegedly (can't say for sure as I haven't actually read it but adaptations of his work are huge in Chinese popular culture). Kinda wild how I only learn about Chinese literature after I start learning the language for other reasons too.
Really enjoyed the video thank you. The 3% stat is depressing but I try to keep translated literature at around 50% of my reading and that is largely thanks to small publishers (such as Charco Press). I remember going to a talk by Edith Grossman many years ago and she was introduced by Daniel Hahn with the observation that if you loved the prose of Garcia Marquez in Love in the Time of Cholera in English it was all written by Grossman - absolutely, and the status of translators is appalling given that these are among the few people who can draw different cultures together.
Yes, I try to keep my reading of translated literature quite high, not just out of "obligation" but also translated literature a lot of the time tends to be what interests me! Thankfully there are so many dedicated small presses who specialise in it, though in Australia it can be very expensive to get hold of some of these small press books, so I never get to support as much as I want to.
I come from a non-english speaking country. In my life I've read probably more books in translation (to my native language) than books in the original version (either written in my native language or in english and french, the only two other languages I speak well enough to read books in). Watching a video of a "booktoker" showing her "translated fiction shelf", a whole total of around 10 books, I realized that in countries where english is the main language, translated fictions are considered "niche" literature. Even those "booktubers" or "booktokers" that praise diversity and multiculturality in literature, they actually meant within the anglo-sphere (books written by afro-american authors rather than black african authors, second-generation immigrants rather than chinese, korean, european... authors). As you well said in your video, this idea that a translation is a "betrayal" of the source material, a "bad copy" that is less than the original, prevents people from discovering foreigner authors and the complexity of their culture, flattening their world view to the anglo-sphere and cutting away the rest. I really appreciated your video and the way you addressed the problem
I've considered it! There's a few examples of writers who have loved an author so much they learnt another language just to read them and translate them. William H. Gass did it with Rilke. I think no author has made me want to learn another language more than Maria Gabriela Llansol, who has so much work that's not yet translated into English (I'm planning to do an extensive video about her currently-translated work next year). So if I were to do it I would probably try to learn Portuguese.
i read enough murakami titles in english to the point of having a personal preference to the translations by philip gabriel and alfred birnbaum over jay rubin's, although obviously they all did well. is it the couple pevear and volokhovsky who really do the best english translations of the russian classics?
@TheWorldWithintheWord interesting. what do you mean by sticky? 🤔 i quite liked their version of crime and punishment. i guess p&v really get polarizing reviews
@@maggyfrog Hard to explain. I definitely have a preference for prose that flows very musically and rhythmically. P&V's doesn't do that for me. I get caught up on their wording, trip over their sentences, it makes for a very unenjoyable reading experience. It stops me in my tracks rather than flowing through.
What are your opinions about the following statements: "Let AI translate literature." "Read more 'bigoted and racist' literature." "Never buy a book. Pirate them."
I think AI shouldn't translate literature, I think literature that spreads bigotry shouldn't be supported, and my feelings on piracy are too complex to affirm or negate in one statement, but generally I am pro-piracy and an advocate for free art with the caveat that it's good to buy art and support artists under capitalism. But if one cannot afford art, they should not be deprived of it. Piracy is effectually no different than borrowing a book from the library.
What do you mean by “adapting the original iambic pentameter verse” while talking about Homeric stuff? It was in hexameters…
A mistake and lack of research on my part. It was meant to be a minor point I distantly recalled hearing others say-I should have looked into it more. Thank you.
@@TheWorldWithintheWord 🤗
Iambic pentameter, which is almost synonymous with English poetry, is the verse type very commonly or quite traditionally used to translate ancient hexameters, btw, to English. You can also look up blank verse.
Thank you for the info! I've pinned the comment and added a note to the description about this :)
"There tends to be a focus on what is lost in translation, but very little in what is gained" hit the nail in the coffin. I'm in favour of retention of original writing but if 99% of readers are unable to decipher how to read the book or decipher the intended meaning, what are we truly complaining about?
I have never thought about it like this.
I love literal translations when possible although there are a lot of things in translation notes that are important, like the P&V versions of Tolstoy will reuse the same English word where the same Russian word is, partially to be literal but partially because a lot of translators will change it up to sound nicer but Tolstoy wasn't that good at writing in that sense, and would just use the same word over and over. So in that case the detail also translates some of the originals style not just the content.
But there are some shorter works or poetic works that can really benefit from a few readings. I'd like to read some of the classic poems like Homer in a more literal translation, I've started the Iliad by Latimore (Lattimore?), but then I plan on finding a translation that preserves some of the feel, either with imagery and stuff or with the actual rhythm and sound.
The biggest thing is just that every translation is a different book, it's like dialects vs languages, but then Arabic languages are all considered dialects even when they aren't mutually intelligible. Just read whichever book you prefer, and be mindful of the differences from other options and from the original.
Also important to note things like I was looking at the Kama Sutra and the main and most easily found translation is from the 1800's by a white British man and with some editing to be slightly acceptable in public society (still couldn't be properly published but he found workarounds). But with this not only is the meaning a bit cleansed but it brings in some more sexist viewpoints from his internal biases. Several new versions present it more modernly, whether entirely accurate or not. One that I believe is a female translator has been accused of possibly adding in some meanings or ideas that aren't present in the original text, but that still presents new insights and ideas if you acknowledge the changes from translation and don't prescribe those words to the original author.
Anyways I kinda went off there but ADHD/maybe autism goes brrrrrr
@@concerninghobbits5536 Nah bro you speak the truth. The best aspect is that you can 2 students of the same subject that have completely different interpretations based upon their culture, relgion and general world views. I don’t personally delve into poetry rather early philosophy. What’s intriguing for me is that poetry doesn’t differ far from poetry rather a more informative than expressive way of critical or any type of thinking.
I’m so glad you mentioned the dialects of Arabic as that’s exactly why I stand with preservation. If Arabs of today struggle to decipher 7th century Arabic (the Quran in particular) considering there isn’t a “base” Arabic language to follow on today - give or take your standpoint on what is universally understood or has the closest roots etc etc - then you can have massive misconceptions on words that have multiple meanings or can have as many give or take context (pronunciation and even emotion if it doesn’t count as an interested category already).
May I ask why you dived into the Kama Sutra? Interestingly enough if we have any scholar, translator etc that gives an interpretation we are so quick to just agree even if that’s what they aim best to do despite it just being a standpoint (we can never truly be impartial given our limited understanding).
@@concerninghobbits5536 No requirement to explain, it’s all good broski
Very good video. It is very interesting to hear that translations are not the norm in english, as a german I've very rarely seen a book I'm interested in not translated into german. The 3% mark is quite depressing honestly and also shows why popular english speaking book youtubers only seem to show novels which were originally published in english because they just don't have the means to read books not published originally in english. "There tends to be a focus on what is lost in translation, but very little in what is gained" is a very good point. I recently started to read novels originally published in english in their original language and while it is difficult to understand sometimes, especially on difficult novels like thomas pynchons gravity's rainbow, I actually see, especially in the way characters talk and prose, that something is indeed lost in translation, but I should also look at the other way around and appreciate what is gained. Gravity's rainbow title in german for example is called 'Die Enden der Parabel' which literal translation would be 'the ends of the parabola' which is not a literal translation of the original title which should be something like 'Des Schwerkrafts Regenbogen' but a translation which opted to keep the pun that pynchon intended with the original title intact.
what a touching analysis. as an aspiring literary translator of english and italian into german, this touched on the many reasons why i choose to pursue this profession, and the obstacles i have faced and still am facing along the way. how i wish your essay had been mandatory viewing during my undergrad - how many more nuanced discussions of literature in translation it would have produced!
thank u!
This means a lot to me, thank you! I wish you nothing but the best with your translation journey ❤️
This is a spectacular video. As societies become more multi-cultural, we are all bound to live in communities influenced by works written in languages and cultures that are not originally our own
I think many readers don't consider your points of 1/ it is a good thing to make literature accessible to more readers, 2/ translating cultural meaning may be more important to the overall meaning of the text than "just" the literal words, and 3/ you may not like the literature even in its original language.
Thank you for bringing these points up and more - definitely made me reconsider some texts I read during my English degree undergrad.
Thank you so much for watching and the kind words 🙏 this is exactly what I'm hoping to do with this video, bringing some new points to the discussion that a lot of people don't consider
This was beautifully made!!! Adding the end recommendations to my list right now. Thank you for your care on such an important topic.
I’ve seen people on TH-cam talk about their favorite translators but I fear that’s not the common practice.
To all translators out there, thank you!!!
Thank you for watching, I hope you enjoy the books I recommended!
This is a really wonderful video. Thank you for taking the time to put it together. It's rare nowadays that a youtube video can grasp my full attention but I sat through this all the way.
So glad to hear it! Thank you for watching 🙏
Thank you so much for this!
As a person from the Global South (where being multilingual is often the case, because of the afterlives of colonialism); it's always been interesting to see the relationship that Westerners (especially Anglo ones) have with literature in translation. Separated by language from our neighbours, translation has often been the only way for us to access the work of writers in/ from those countries and I'm glad more Western English-only readers are coming round to it.
Thank you for the recommendations, links, and insight. Looking forward to more essays!
Thank you for watching!
You hit multiple important points really well, and your choice of sources is very good too. Thank you for this video, it is a good and well-supported take on the subject.
Re translator representation, it showed me a lot I didn't realise about the situation in English-language publishing, because I used to think that translators were usually well-represented there. In my country, Russia, the practice has always been not to feature the translator on the cover, only on the title page within the book. Translators often remain unnoticed by a wider public, unless they are "good old" names from the Soviet past, when some famous translations were published which people have become used to.
Thank you for watching!
It's a shame when translators go unacknowledged, because not only is it just good to credit them, but I also think it's good to be able to follow their work more easily. I know multiple translators whose work I will be interested in picking up even when I don't know the writer they're translating. When translators are obscured a bit more in the process it's harder to follow them like that.
Great video. As German I always find it interesting how different the discussion or conversation about translations is in English. Accessibility in translations in German is the norm, but the input of translators or even the naming on covers has never occured to me before hearing English native speakers talk about translations.
Yes, the percentage of translated literature in Germany and Italy is somewhere around 30% I believe, a much higher and acceptable percentage! The US, UK, and Australia should definitely take note.
Translating text really is a thougher and more creative job than people realise. It's difficult to translate prose, with its puns, wordplays and references, to adapt it all into a form reader can understand and recognise, not to mention all the grammar rules and other technical aspects. And it's even harder with poetry! Sometimes, even translating my own words from one language to another proves difficult. Every word has a certain weight, a history attached to it that stems through centuries, a context you need to capture. As an amateur translator of random bits from movies, shows or books I want to show my foreign friends, I finally understood it all. It's true that a translator can make or break the story; but as it turns out, it's not simply linked to the 'faithfulness' as people tend to see it. Translating is like constructing a machine from a plan you recieved, and then spending time on certain parts and details to make it work in your enviroment. It's hard, it's wonderful, and it should definitely be appreciated more.
On another note, as a person from Poland most of the books I own (and a significant number of the ones being sold) are translations. However, enormous percentage of those are translations from english. In recent months, I tried to broaden my horizons by reading literature from other countries, but it's hard to come by books (that are not already a guaranteed succes) translated into polish from another languages, so sometimes I just end up reading the english translations of foreign classic. That being said, there's been a wave of new (especially east asian) literature being available on the market, shared by smaller publishers. I really hope that this trend keeps up and we will be able to enjoy stories from all around the world, told by skilled translators who love their craft
Yes, one thing I didn't mention in the video is how Europe's publication percentage for translated literature is much higher, and while I didn't research the numbers (because I was mainly focusing on the anglo-sphere), I think it's highly likely that even though translated literature published in Europe is much higher, that it's also a result of anglo-focused publishing and how hard the US and UK push their literature onto foreign markets (something foreign markets don't do within the anglo-sphere, which I did briefly mention).
So soothing to watch you stack your books. Makes me want to browse my shelves.
It is one of life's great joys to peruse a great library :)
Fantastic video! as a student for a master's program in translation studies I appreciate how you pointed out the role of translators and how often they are forgotten... Thank you again for your work! 😊
Thank you for watching!
This was really fascinating and informative. Awesome video. Well done, man.
Thank you, I really appreciate it!
This was fascinating. Will check out some of these for sure.
Truthfully, I've been sceptical of Smith's translations since first reading some of her work years ago. I'm a native English speaker, but I speak Korean as well, though it's been a long process and I've only been capable of truly reading and appreciating full novels fairly recently. I'd intended to read Han Kang's work in Korean, but after watching this I will honestly likely read both the original and the translation.
I'm glad you'll give her translations a go! They're well worth it. And if it's any help, Han Kang herself supports Smith's translations fully.
As an Italian at the beginning it was really difficult to follow these speeches on English and American channels. Because in Italy mani people reads almost exclusively translated literature. The problem in Italy is the opposite, almost everyone will choose between a book with an Italian author and a book with a foreign author that of the foreign author. In Italy there are practically opposite groups: those who prefer Japanese literature, those who love American literature, those who love English literature, those who love Russian literature and a little less those who love French literature and those who love South American literature.
For example, we have a publishing house that only publishes literature only from Northern Europe.
The problem is that in Italy there is a rampant xenophilia which translates into considering everything created in Italy mediocre and of low quality: be it cinema, television, music, books, comics, graphic novels. And the little love for our artistic work makes it even more difficult to make the translation of our books abroad attractive.
A change has begun to be seen thanks to the Italian publishing house Edizioni E/O (Europa Editions) which slowly, also thanks to the fame of Elena Ferrante, has slowly managed to bring more and more Italian authors around Europe and America. But it must be said that the American public is really difficult to convince to accept something from outside, because as you remind us, for books they often don't trust translators and if we think about the audiovisual world such as cinema this continuous hatred for dubbing leads to more and more to throw down and not discover directors, actors and actresses from others countries.
And to think that we in Italy have the worst American films like Sharknado or others that are nominated for the Razzie Awards dubbed with the same skill with which Scorsese's latest film is dubbed. And yet sometimes you find reviews of international films by Americans who give one star because dubbing shouldn't be there.
Another trend that is emerging in Italy, to make it clear how strange all this is, is the use of foreign pseudonyms to sell one's books because it is now known that the foreign name is almost synonymous with a "good" book.
All this to say that it is really difficult to understand how the Anglo-Saxon world deals with certain issues.
Yes, I think some of these issues also stem from how the anglo-sphere pushes our own literature onto foreign markets, and I also imagine just being in Europe (as well as many other countries, especially in Asia), being at least somewhat bilingual is normalised much more, you're also open to translated literature a lot more in that sense. In the US especially, people are very belligerant towards other cultures. It's definitely strange how widely these things change culturally between continents.
Really beautiful video, looking forward to more writing from you. ✌️
Thank you!
Beautifully said. Thank you so much for this wonderful video, and for bringing light and attention to a topic rarely discussed, we really can take translators and their invaluable works for granted. I myself am always trying to read more translated works so I greatly appreciate your recommendations. ♥️
Thank you for watching! I hope you enjoy some of my recommendations :)
This video was amazing. Not only it helped solved an issue in my day to day life, it also aided me in discover amazing new pieces of literaturate. Thank you ever so much for such astonishing work!
Thank you so much for watching! May I ask what issue this helped you solve in your day to day life?
@TheWorldWithintheWord I am not a native English speaker. Therefore, I am used to reading translations on a regular basis. It is a common heald belief that prioritizing reading in the original language is better (because most of the classics are originally written in said language). Plus, it is claimed that there's information you miss sowly for not reading the original material. Your video helped me hold a different point of view regarding what I'll read for now onwards. I must say that in more than one occasion I have turned down books due to them being translations in English
I'm so glad to hear that! Definitely do not deprive yourself of all the great literature in translation you could be reading :)
thanks for making this video essay.
for everyone looking for more translated works, Tilted Axis Press is worth looking into. this small publishing house focuses on translated asian literature *and* they make a point of putting translator’s name on the cover. i believe they were the ones who published Tomb of Sand.
Yes, wonderful recommendation. Tilted Axis do great work!
i have to admit that i cried at the beginning for Smith being blamed that his Han Kang translation wasn't "faithful" according to some :(
im studying to be a translator just like Smith and people don't have a clue how hard it is to take an original text and change basically everything but also change nothing. Google translate could never translate The Vegetarian just like Smith did. AI could never translate The Vegetarian just like Smith did. the meaning of a text is hidden so far back the actual words on the page, that technology will probably never be able to find it. I hope to be just like Smith in a future, and I hope more people start realising how important translators are to society
this video is beautifully done
"I can't learn to read every single language" but I can, I will learn every language in it's written form and no amount of facts and logic can change my mind. Surely I won't learn like two and then die at a moderate to old age...
I wish you the best of luck in your journey
Love the video but if I say something is far better in the original language personally it's usually me not liking English as much lol the greatest respect to translators!
(Also biased since I'm a bilingual who struggled with keeping my second language.)
Awesome video, the translations are always their own piece of literature.
Fair enough!
Not sure why but the book stacking is incredibly soothing
If I knew people enjoyed the book stacking so much I would have included more! Thank you for watching 🙏
Thank you. This was very informative and important. I love reading translated fiction.
As do I! Thank you for watching 🙏
this video definitely deserves more views
As someone who doesn't speak english as a first language but reads a lot in it (because I speaks a language where most of the major world Classic hasn't been translated or even if it has it doesn't have good translations) I really appreciate it because the only way for me to access a lot of world literature, is the English language(for better or for worse) and english readers becoming more aware of these issues is just a win for me. I also wish that I could show this to a lot of writers and readers who speaks my language. Idk why a lot of readers and writers of my language has this notion that our language's literature couldn't be translated into other languages and also has this condescending attitude towards translations and people who read translations(because apparently,in their logic translated literature is always inferior and bad) of those books.There has also been cases of established writers disparaging translators and translations of their own works and it's just sad how parochial and pretentious their World view is while producing 3rd rate books. It has just produced a culture which is just harmful for everyone.
Also, you should really do a bookshelf tour.
I might combine a bookshelf tour and an essay on collecting in the future! I had done something similar in a video I made before I started scripting, I would like to produce a better version. Thank you for watching!
I'm a language learner and I think you put into words something I was grappling with.
I want to read the Chinese authors Lu Xun and Jin Yong as I've been learning Chinese for a while but I was setting it aside until my Chinese was good enough, but then they write at a level I'm not able to read anyways so its dumb. I'm taking a break from Chinese so I should give them a chance regardless, sadly not all of their works have been translated yet so there is a point in learning Chinese. I would like to eventually translate some of Jin Yong to my native language (Spanish), I believe only 1 novel got translated? Yet his works in China sold hundreds of millions, he is a really underrated writer outside of the sinosphere allegedly (can't say for sure as I haven't actually read it but adaptations of his work are huge in Chinese popular culture). Kinda wild how I only learn about Chinese literature after I start learning the language for other reasons too.
I have had a Jin Yong book on my shelf for years but still haven't read it! I should amend that.
Really enjoyed the video thank you. The 3% stat is depressing but I try to keep translated literature at around 50% of my reading and that is largely thanks to small publishers (such as Charco Press). I remember going to a talk by Edith Grossman many years ago and she was introduced by Daniel Hahn with the observation that if you loved the prose of Garcia Marquez in Love in the Time of Cholera in English it was all written by Grossman - absolutely, and the status of translators is appalling given that these are among the few people who can draw different cultures together.
Yes, I try to keep my reading of translated literature quite high, not just out of "obligation" but also translated literature a lot of the time tends to be what interests me! Thankfully there are so many dedicated small presses who specialise in it, though in Australia it can be very expensive to get hold of some of these small press books, so I never get to support as much as I want to.
I come from a non-english speaking country. In my life I've read probably more books in translation (to my native language) than books in the original version (either written in my native language or in english and french, the only two other languages I speak well enough to read books in). Watching a video of a "booktoker" showing her "translated fiction shelf", a whole total of around 10 books, I realized that in countries where english is the main language, translated fictions are considered "niche" literature. Even those "booktubers" or "booktokers" that praise diversity and multiculturality in literature, they actually meant within the anglo-sphere (books written by afro-american authors rather than black african authors, second-generation immigrants rather than chinese, korean, european... authors). As you well said in your video, this idea that a translation is a "betrayal" of the source material, a "bad copy" that is less than the original, prevents people from discovering foreigner authors and the complexity of their culture, flattening their world view to the anglo-sphere and cutting away the rest.
I really appreciated your video and the way you addressed the problem
Yes, English speakers seem to expect the rest of the world to be familiar with our language and literature but show very little regard for any other!
lot to ask but it would be very cool to see you learn enough of another language to do the "companion piece" reading you described so well
I've considered it! There's a few examples of writers who have loved an author so much they learnt another language just to read them and translate them. William H. Gass did it with Rilke. I think no author has made me want to learn another language more than Maria Gabriela Llansol, who has so much work that's not yet translated into English (I'm planning to do an extensive video about her currently-translated work next year). So if I were to do it I would probably try to learn Portuguese.
@@TheWorldWithintheWord I understand Portuguese can also be useful for online gaming ;)
@@needleofsalt It's a win on all fronts!
Until my Mandarin is good enough to read Cixin Liu's original Three Body Problem text, I'll stick to the translated version. 😁
I love Past Lives and I love this video 🗣️‼️
Thanks TH-cam user @chunchism!!!!
i read enough murakami titles in english to the point of having a personal preference to the translations by philip gabriel and alfred birnbaum over jay rubin's, although obviously they all did well.
is it the couple pevear and volokhovsky who really do the best english translations of the russian classics?
@@maggyfrog I personally don't enjoy P&V's writing style-too sticky, doesn't flow well for me.
@TheWorldWithintheWord
interesting. what do you mean by sticky? 🤔
i quite liked their version of crime and punishment. i guess p&v really get polarizing reviews
@@maggyfrog Hard to explain. I definitely have a preference for prose that flows very musically and rhythmically. P&V's doesn't do that for me. I get caught up on their wording, trip over their sentences, it makes for a very unenjoyable reading experience. It stops me in my tracks rather than flowing through.
What are your opinions about the following statements:
"Let AI translate literature."
"Read more 'bigoted and racist' literature."
"Never buy a book. Pirate them."
I think AI shouldn't translate literature, I think literature that spreads bigotry shouldn't be supported, and my feelings on piracy are too complex to affirm or negate in one statement, but generally I am pro-piracy and an advocate for free art with the caveat that it's good to buy art and support artists under capitalism. But if one cannot afford art, they should not be deprived of it. Piracy is effectually no different than borrowing a book from the library.