Translation Review - The University of Texas at Dallas

What can the translator bring to further the
reading and understanding of foreign
literatures? Not only do translators transfer
literary texts from foreign languages into
English, but they are also very well equipped
to bring the English reader closer to an
understanding of the refinements inherent in
other languages and cultures. More and more
students have to be encouraged to pursue
Master’s theses and doctoral dissertations in
the field of literary translation, with particular
emphasis on the actual translation of literary
works from foreign languages into English.
Having translated the work, students will be in
a position to open up aspects of the original
text that a critic or scholar, who has not done
the translation, could not perform with the
same intensity and insight. Translators are
familiar with every linguistic, cultural, social,
and anthropological detail of the fictional,
poetic, nonfictional or essayistic text under
consideration. Thus, the final version of a
translation should be accompanied by several
essayistic features to facilitate the reader’s
entrance into and enjoyment of the foreign text
in translation. In addition to the placement of
the translated author into the context of the
national and international scene, a section
should be dedicated to the interpretive
perspective seen through the eyes of the
translator, and finally a section in which the
translator retraces the steps that she or he took
to move from the first draft to the final
version. In that last section, another dimension
of intense reading and enjoyment of the work
can be achieved by the translator as critic.
Above all, translators are in a position to
articulate the nuances of thinking and
perceiving in another language, to point to the
different cultural habits and reconstruct the
aesthetic flavor of a work in its national
environment.
Many of the differences between two
languages can be explained through the
possibilities of critical language; however,
subtle cultural peculiarities often cannot find
adequate correspondences in a new language.
In the reconstruction of the translation process,
the translator is able to lead the reader closer to an
understanding of the idiosyncrasies of cultural,
historical, and aesthetic phenomena in the foreign
work. The excitement of the reader resides in the
reenactment of the foreign traits as compared to
those in the receptor language. After all, we are
always attracted to the mystery of complex and
ambiguous situations in other cultures, which
challenge our curiosity and imagination.
In the past few years, we have seen signs that
translators have included, either as an introduction
or as an afterword, detailed comments on the
reconstruction of the translation process in order
to open a dialogue between the foreignness of the
other culture and the receptor language. In many
instances, these commentaries, together with an
intrinsic interpretive approach to the work as seen
through the eyes of the translator, have greatly
enhanced the accessibility, understanding, and
enjoyment of foreign works for the English
reader. The globalized world forces us to find
entrance into that which is foreign in the minds of
people in other countries to avoid an escalation of
the clashes of cultures.
The previous considerations should be a
wake-up call for teachers and professors of
literature. Rainer Maria Rilke exclaims at the end
of his poem “Archaïscher Torso Apollos,” “Du
mußt dein Leben ändern [You must change your
life],” and this should become the motto for the
teaching and understanding of world literature.
Literature should be seen with the interpretive
perspective of the translator, which will revitalize
the act of meaningful interpretations, decrease the
proliferation of boring scholarly articles, and
revive the power of the word to reflect substantive
thought progression and make the reader a recreator
of the literary work rather than an outside
observer.
For all of this to happen, creative writing
programs and modern literature departments must
think seriously about introducing translation
workshops into their curricula. Yet, there is a
negative side to this enterprise. Universities need
more instructors who are versed in the art and
craft of translation, and universities must display a
more positive attitude toward those who want to
work in translation and teach courses in
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