The Scandals of Translation

Lawrence Venuti is one of the leading translation theorists (and translators) today. His texts, "The Translator's Invisibility: A History of Translation" (1995) and "The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference" (1998), are foundational.

In "The Translator's Invisibility," he calls upon translators to apply "foreignizing" translation strategies (allow the foreignness of the source text to come through) instead of domesticating ones.

In "The Scandals of Translation," he writes: "Translation is stigmatized as a form of writing, discouraged by copyright law, depreciated by the academy, exploited by publishers and corporations, governments and religious organizations. Translation is treated so disadvantageously, I want to suggest, partly because it occasions revelations that question the authority of dominant cultural values and institutions."

No Way, Madame Bovary

When should a work, especially a masterpiece, be re-translated? If you can answer that question, you're more insightful than a lot of other people. There is no single, certainly no simple, answer. The Quixote has been translated into English at least 20 times, the most recent being Edith Grossman's critically acclaimed 2005 re-translation. Two questions must be asked, and in my opinion, at least one must be answered in the affirmative: Does the new translation improve on former translation(s)? and Is the former translation(s) so inaccessible to contemporary readers that a new translation is warranted?

According to Clive James, Margaret Mauldon's re-translation of Flaubert's Madame Bovary misses on both counts. He makes a pretty convincing case. You can read his review here.

"Why Translation Mattters," by Edith Grossman

Edith Grossman is the foremost Spanish-English translator working today. Her long-awaited translation of "Don Quixote" was published in 2005 by Harper Collins. Her translations of Garcia Marquez include "Memories of My Melancholy Whore," "News of a Kidnapping," and "Love in the Time of Cholera." Her book, "Why Translation Matters," is the first in a new series, "Why X Matters," by Yale University Press. The New York Times review is here.

Her essay, "A New Great Wall: Why the Crisis in Translation Matters," appeared in the May/June 2010 issue of Foreign Policy.

Bienvenid@

Welcome to my blog! My name is George Henson. I am a Spanish lecturer and freelance literary translator. My goal is to use this blog to introduce you to the craft of literary translation in general and my translations in particular. I just signed a contract with Alligator Press for the publication of my first book of translations, a short story collection by Mexican author Elena Poniatowska, which will be published in early 2011. More about that to come. Feel free to comment, make recommendations and link to my blog. Thanks for stopping by!