A Log Cabin Out of Stone: - Dartmouth College

eason.” 11 The “spirit” that Nabokov refers to is entirely subjective. Why would the
translator have a better grasp on what the original’s author was really trying to say? Why
does the translator’s interpretation win out over what the original author had said?
However, the translation that Nabokov supports may have a problematic result.
The word for word, formal equivalent, translation with lots of footnotes explaining the
decisions creates a translation that is not pleasurable to read. It is difficult and its only
use is really to help decipher the lexical aspects of the original. For myself, I am not
convinced that this mode of translation is helpful for any other purpose than to guide
someone reading the original. As Schopenhauer explained, word for word translations
can be superficial and could quite possibly mislead the reader. Moreover, reading this
type of translation requires a lot of work. The experience of reading the poem in
translation does not even approach the experience of what it is like to read the original.
Going Between Cultures
A further issue that must be addressed in order to translate is the culture clash.
We have to be concerned with not just what the words denote, but also the frame of
reference or the cultural baggage that comes with the words are also important. Some
words have business connotations, academic connotations, modern or theoretical
connotations. The words that Horace chose to write in his original also may have the
same set of connotations. Latin presents a particularly accentuated problem in this sense;
we will never fully grasp the way in which the Romans understood each word. We have
some idea, and the Oxford Latin Dictionary makes an attempt to put the words in
11 Nabokov, 135.
11