Was so tempted to make a comment on the NPR site itself about what a safe, predictable and obvious list this was. Murakami? Really?—he must be one of the best-selling translated writers in the US! And Nobel winners (I know the point was that nobody reads Nobel winners, but at least they show up on front pages of national papers). But then I realized that my very small world is a different place from the one most people, even most readers, exist in, and I didn't want to seem like a snob. Here I feel free to let the snob-flag wave free.
One problem with Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicles is that the English edition is, so I've heard, significantly abridged, with one or two important episodes missing Apparently, the translator himself prepared two versions, one complete and one abridged, to submit to the publisher, and the publisher chose to publish the latter.
Kipen qualifies his statement by saying only three percent of works in the U.S. are translations; but, that's not true for Canada, for one thing. More importantly, I kinda wonder where Kipen gets his data and whether he reads science, religion, philosophy, and poetry because, IMO, some quite-a-few many of our classic works are those which originally appeared in languages other than English. And, finally, if he laments this, is he not in a position to pay quality translators some kind of grant or honorarium to correct what he considers to be an evil transgression? (Plus, do the remaining 97% deserve to be translated? Are the worthy works of lasting value?)
(The Bible, .e.g., wasn't written in Anguish, er, English, either, right?)
I'm just now writing an essay review on exactly this topic. It's about 3% of the world's fiction that gets translated into English -- at least, that is how I understand that well-known percentage (it's cited on several web sites devoted to foreign fiction). However, based on some of the bad novels & story collections I've been reading, I'm surprised we get even 3%!
Puzzling over this, I've decided the choice of many of the texts we get has to do with the interests of the translators. Often, it's the translator who gets the book published in the U.S. (all those academic press editions), so the work may be more off-beat than something a non-scholar would pick.
On the other hand, if a novel is already a big hit in its own country, the *publisher* will find a translator to aim for our teeming hordes of American or English language readers. So I think I'm seeing an odd mix of the esoteric (scholarly translator illuminating a writer s/he loves) and popular (mystery novels, such as those by Arnaldur Indridason -- who happens to be the #1 writer in Iceland these days).
More when I've gotten through the rest of my boxes, but I haven't been impressed by the French, German, or Italian selections I have thus sampled. Everything I'm reading had to come out in 2008, so that may skew the quality of what I'm seeing, but maybe every year has this kind of a selection. Qui sait?
And the problem with translating books that are hits in their authors' native countries is that often they're not that great. Javier Sierra's The Secret Supper was OK, but he's no Umberto Eco. The assumption seems to be that large numbers of great books are not being translated into English. But I don't see any convincing evidence for this. Given the amount of crap published in this country, let's hope that only 3 percent of it gets translated.
One other thing: When a really good foreign author does get translated, getting word around about him isn't easy. I never miss a chance to beat the drum for Torgny Lindgren, who is one of the most original authors writing today in any language.Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain was written in English and long-listed for the Booker, but still hasn't got anywhere near the attention it deserves. And as for Japanese authors, the late Shusaku Endo should be more widely known than he is. Graham Greene thought so.
Another problem translators confront, inevitably, is the cultural references (which are inevitably bound to be different; and, if a writer riffs on the idiotocracy of some of same, that's impossible to translate).
I wonder if children's books are easier or harder to translate, for that reason. Certainly, The Little Prince was fairly straight-forward; but, each language has its own set of historical and sociological corollaries that just can't be translated; and, they mostly involve the humour of a work, I think.
Turning the page, in any given year, there are only about five books worthy of The Book of Eternity published in any country. Don't get me wrong; but, many very good books aren't worth translating because not every very good book is a masterpiece, not by a country mile nor kilometer's worth of good ink given it.
You must tell us where your study takes you, Susan; and, if it's online, where we can read it; but, really, Good luck with this one, especially since I agree with you about the percentages of worthy books. Kipen might've shown more spine if he'd complained not enough great books are published (and, the reasons for that are as various as they are nefarious) NOW, let alone whenevs.
Was so tempted to make a comment on the NPR site itself about what a safe, predictable and obvious list this was. Murakami? Really?—he must be one of the best-selling translated writers in the US! And Nobel winners (I know the point was that nobody reads Nobel winners, but at least they show up on front pages of national papers). But then I realized that my very small world is a different place from the one most people, even most readers, exist in, and I didn't want to seem like a snob. Here I feel free to let the snob-flag wave free.
ReplyDeleteOne problem with Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicles is that the English edition is, so I've heard, significantly abridged, with one or two important episodes missing Apparently, the translator himself prepared two versions, one complete and one abridged, to submit to the publisher, and the publisher chose to publish the latter.
ReplyDeleteKipen qualifies his statement by saying only three percent of works in the U.S. are translations; but, that's not true for Canada, for one thing. More importantly, I kinda wonder where Kipen gets his data and whether he reads science, religion, philosophy, and poetry because, IMO, some quite-a-few many of our classic works are those which originally appeared in languages other than English. And, finally, if he laments this, is he not in a position to pay quality translators some kind of grant or honorarium to correct what he considers to be an evil transgression? (Plus, do the remaining 97% deserve to be translated? Are the worthy works of lasting value?)
ReplyDelete(The Bible, .e.g., wasn't written in Anguish, er, English, either, right?)
I'm just now writing an essay review on exactly this topic. It's about 3% of the world's fiction that gets translated into English -- at least, that is how I understand that well-known percentage (it's cited on several web sites devoted to foreign fiction). However, based on some of the bad novels & story collections I've been reading, I'm surprised we get even 3%!
ReplyDeletePuzzling over this, I've decided the choice of many of the texts we get has to do with the interests of the translators. Often, it's the translator who gets the book published in the U.S. (all those academic press editions), so the work may be more off-beat than something a non-scholar would pick.
On the other hand, if a novel is already a big hit in its own country, the *publisher* will find a translator to aim for our teeming hordes of American or English language readers. So I think I'm seeing an odd mix of the esoteric (scholarly translator illuminating a writer s/he loves) and popular (mystery novels, such as those by Arnaldur Indridason -- who happens to be the #1 writer in Iceland these days).
More when I've gotten through the rest of my boxes, but I haven't been impressed by the French, German, or Italian selections I have thus sampled. Everything I'm reading had to come out in 2008, so that may skew the quality of what I'm seeing, but maybe every year has this kind of a selection. Qui sait?
And the problem with translating books that are hits in their authors' native countries is that often they're not that great. Javier Sierra's The Secret Supper was OK, but he's no Umberto Eco. The assumption seems to be that large numbers of great books are not being translated into English. But I don't see any convincing evidence for this. Given the amount of crap published in this country, let's hope that only 3 percent of it gets translated.
ReplyDeleteOne other thing: When a really good foreign author does get translated, getting word around about him isn't easy. I never miss a chance to beat the drum for Torgny Lindgren, who is one of the most original authors writing today in any language.Tan Twan Eng's The Gift of Rain was written in English and long-listed for the Booker, but still hasn't got anywhere near the attention it deserves. And as for Japanese authors, the late Shusaku Endo should be more widely known than he is. Graham Greene thought so.
ReplyDeleteAnother problem translators confront, inevitably, is the cultural references (which are inevitably bound to be different; and, if a writer riffs on the idiotocracy of some of same, that's impossible to translate).
ReplyDeleteI wonder if children's books are easier or harder to translate, for that reason. Certainly, The Little Prince was fairly straight-forward; but, each language has its own set of historical and sociological corollaries that just can't be translated; and, they mostly involve the humour of a work, I think.
Turning the page, in any given year, there are only about five books worthy of The Book of Eternity published in any country. Don't get me wrong; but, many very good books aren't worth translating because not every very good book is a masterpiece, not by a country mile nor kilometer's worth of good ink given it.
You must tell us where your study takes you, Susan; and, if it's online, where we can read it; but, really, Good luck with this one, especially since I agree with you about the percentages of worthy books. Kipen might've shown more spine if he'd complained not enough great books are published (and, the reasons for that are as various as they are nefarious) NOW, let alone whenevs.