I absolutely love the idea behind Into English: A translator or poet picks a poem written in a language other than English, chooses three English translations of the poem, and discusses how the different translations approach the original and differ from each other. The theme, obviously, is the impossibility of translation. Noting the differences helps us triangulate toward the original.
It is indeed fascinating to see how word choice and differences between languages affects the impact of a poem. The translations are often quite different from one another, as the translators try to capture different aspects of the original.
As the editors say in their introduction, the rules dictate that only well-known poets are represented. (Less famous poets wouldn't have been translated into English at least three times.) Unfortunately, too many of the poems were not to my taste, and the commentators read more into them than I can see.
It is indeed fascinating to see how word choice and differences between languages affects the impact of a poem. The translations are often quite different from one another, as the translators try to capture different aspects of the original.
As the editors say in their introduction, the rules dictate that only well-known poets are represented. (Less famous poets wouldn't have been translated into English at least three times.) Unfortunately, too many of the poems were not to my taste, and the commentators read more into them than I can see.
No comments:
Post a Comment