Translator vs. Writer
A translator’s post I’ve just read strangely reminded me of an anecdote that happened to J., many years ago. J. was a fellow translator (who died before her time, sadly) who was much involved in literary translation, and she was asked to check the Spanish to French translation of an interview with one of the best Spanish writers. The French publisher was worried because the translation was visibly shorter than the original. J. set out to check it, and realized that the translator had summarized some parts of the interview. When challenged to explain why, the translator said she felt the author was being repetitive.
This illustrates the tight rope we translators have to walk. Even when we feel the source copy is badly written, our job is to provide a correct yet faithful rendering of it. God was not a translator, obviously.
Tags: Translation
