The Art of Empathy Translation

Like the hunter in theBuru tale, it seemed, thistranslation took me on anunexpected journey: I hadentered a forest cave in Buruand emerged in the labyrinthof a Dada poem, followingthe threads left behind bythe great storytellers of 20thcenturyworld literature. Tome that journey is the powerof translation. I do not claimto have gained any deepunderstanding of the Burupeople or their worldview,but that graceful image of theGeba Bohot was a gift thatforged a connection for meacross the seas. Reading suchworks—flashes of astonishingkinship followed by momentsof disorientation—made ourwide world (in its expandingmultiverse) seem less vastand unknowable. And also farmore complex.Some argue that artisticexpression in language is whatmakes us uniquely human; byextension, reading each other’swords and thoughts, especiallythose from distant lands, ispart of what binds us togetheracross distances. But thissentiment alone cannot conveythe power and importance ofliterary translation.Many readers firstgravitate towards literature intranslation simply because theyenjoy reading it. This pull goesbeyond a passive pleasure; Ibelieve reading literature intranslation requires us to openMy RecommendationsDante, Dante, and DanteI recommend reading threedifferent translations of Dante’sInferno—perfectly in keepingwith the triadic spiraling ofDante’s terza rima rhymescheme. That may sound likea dusty recommendation, butDante has been misconstrued incontemporary America. He was aradical poet, exiled for his politicalalliances, and very outspoken. TheInferno is a fascinating work ofpoetic mastery and philosophicalcomplexity—but his scenes ofhorror are unmatched.There are poetictranslations, some attempting toreplicate the rhyme and meterof the original terza rima, sometransforming the poem into amore familiar form in English(Hollander, Pinsky, Mandelbaum).There are prose translations thataim to capture the details of theplot (Sinclair, Singleton). Thereare scholarly translations withextensive footnotes detailingthe many political intriguesand religious disputes of thetime, not to mention underlyingphilosophical notions and literarytropes, all of which are invaluablefor students and researchers(Ciardi, and Sinclair again). Manytranslations attempt to recreatean archaic sound akin to Dante’sItalian, but now there are alsotranslations that aim to bringthe poem squarely into 21stcenturyparlance, complete withreferences to South Park (Mary JoBang).Abandon all hope of asingle perfect translation, ofcourse, but enter anyway, andrejoice in the many paths taken.The Art of Empathy: Celebrating Literature in Translation43