Any field of translation delivers numerous challenges. Translators should boast both language skills and knowledge of the concepts involved.
But literary translation is uniquely complex, given the insight and creativity required.
The translation of a literary work is a very different undertaking to the translation process of an instruction manual or legal document. For this reason, literary translators are specialists that must possess impressive skillsets.
What is literary translation specialism?
Literary translation is the art of translating creative, fictional works including novels, novellas, short stores, plays and poems. It encompasses the translation of both historic and contemporary pieces.
Translations are important as they enable new audiences to experience the creations of writers from different cultures. As such, the translated works facilitate learning and understanding.
Why is literary translation so challenging?
Literary translation is a demanding endeavour and for a variety of reasons:
Authorial voice
Translators must capture the voice of the original author which can be difficult to replicate in the target language. Every successful author possesses their own unique, nuanced and often instantly recognisable style that is intrinsic to the quality of their work.
Cultural context
Literature often features cultural references, historical details, and beliefs that may not be recognised in another culture or that may not be properly understood.
Translators are faced with deciding which of the original references should be retained, which should be explained, and which should be replaced with equivalents that the new audience will identify with. Regardless of the approach they adopt, their choice of words should always retain the essence of the original text.
Many historic, geographical or social references imply certain meanings which may not be fully understood by a new audience. For instance, natives of any country would understand which regions are synonymous with poverty and decline. The original author would not need to explain this. However, a translator would have to find the right words to convey not just the geography but the implications of that geography.
Figurative language
Most literary works rely heavily on metaphors, similes and idioms. These figures of speech would often not be recognised by speakers of other languages. Translators need to find alternative expressions that will resonate with the audience but that also boast the intended tone and meaning.
In Hunger Strike, Colum McCann says, “They spoke as if each word were being served with scones and china cups”. Native English speakers would know that scones and china cups are references to the uniquely English concept of afternoon tea, an elegant and expensive treat historically enjoyed by the aristocracy. How would a translator express this metaphor in another language without losing the succinct and emotive nature of the original words?
Word play and double-entendres
Writers often use puns and double meanings to lend humour, irony or ambiguity to their works. These verbal gymnastics are extremely challenging to translate as there could be no direct equivalents in other languages.
In Romeo & Juliet, Mercutio is killed by Tybalt. As he is dying, Mercutio says:
“Ask for me tomorrow and you shall find me a grave man.”
To be grave is to be serious but here Mercutio is also suggesting that tomorrow he will be in his grave. The play on the word “grave” can only work in English as it is unlikely that there would be a word meaning both serious and dead or buried in another language. A translator would need to conjure an appropriate turn of phrase while also maintaining the meter of the verse.
Poetic form
In tackling poetry, literary translators must maintain the rhythm and meter of the original in addition to conveying the intended meaning. They are also faced with conjuring words that rhyme, if rhymes feature in the original work.
Literary devices
All forms of literary writing may include certain devices such as alliteration, onomatopoeia and hyperbole. Such verbal trickery lends impact and emphasis to creative writing. All of which means that creative adaption is often required to deliver translations that maintain both the intended meaning and the additional impact of the literary devices employed.
Translating the untranslatable
It simply isn’t possible to produce a literal translation of a literary work while maintaining the intended meaning, tone, style and structure of the original.
Translators must boast creative talent and linguistic brilliance if they are to conjure the perfect words to preserve the essence of the original pieces. The languages, cultures and literary conventions of different countries are never identical and so you could say that literature is essentially untranslatable. Literary translation demands transcreation rather than mere translation.
Translators may have to employ a wide range of approaches when creating a new version of any literary work. There could be passages that require minimal adaptation but others where it would be most effective to replace dialogue with actions. It might be necessary to use an entire paragraph to successfully render a phrase or to use a phrase in place of a single word.
Put simply, literary works paint pictures with words and translators must paint the same pictures using different words.
Literary translation specialists
To specialise in literary translation, a translator will require in-depth knowledge of literature and preferably the literature of diverse cultures. A degree in comparative literature would be a significant asset. Literary translators must also boast impressive creative writing skills. The ideal person to translate a novel would most certainly be a novelist!
Literary translation is a serious undertaking that carries with it great responsibility. Translators are forced to make choices regarding every word and phrase that they write and to select an appropriate meter or structure. A translation project could result in multiple drafts being written and will sometimes require the input of the original writer.
Literary translation is more than a specialism, it is an artistic endeavour but one with constraints.
Constraints rarely sit comfortably with art and therein lies the significant challenge.
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