Jonathan Swift’s A Tale of a Tub is a satirical work
that (among other things) parodies the prefatory material that makes a book
marketable in a world irrevocably marked by print culture. In our contemporary
times, the ‘Translator’s Note’ is one such document. It either precedes or succeeds a translated
literary work, depending upon several factors including stylistic choices made by publishers. Though often ignored, the translator’s note contains valuable
information that contributes towards the ‘meaning’ of a work. Far from being irrelevant,
the note is usually a meditation on the process and experience of translating
and transforming concepts, events, actions, and emotions from one language and
culture to another.
In a podcast with Jen Campbell, Deborah
Smith, the translator of the Man-Booker International Prize sensation The Vegetarian by Han Kang, speaks at
length about her experience of translating from the Korean. Smith was
monolingual—she only knew English—till she decided to pursue a Doctorate in
Korean Literature. When she was sent a sample of The Vegetarian for translation, she had been studying Korean for
only two years and had never translated anything from Korean to English. Smith
talks about her interaction with Kang and the comments that she received from
the author explaining the author’s intention behind a particular scene, a character, or a word-choice.
One of the significant
problems that Smith highlights is regarding the translation of dialects and ‘affectionate
words’. Korean dialects, remarks Smith, are very strongly marked and are almost
mutually unintelligible. While translating Kang’s Human Acts, Smith made the choice of using a small amount of
Yorkshire dialect and accent to highlight the use of a different Korean dialect
(Gwangju dialect) in the novel. She also made the choice of using the word ‘love’
in characters’ conversations with each other. Smith says,
You don’t want to make things too ‘exotic’ but at the same time you don’t want to pretend that there is absolutely no difference [sic.]
While Smith highlights
the need for a careful balance, Jerry Pinto in the ‘Translator’s Note’ to Cobalt Blue by Sachin Kundalkar (his
first work of translation from Marathi to English), emphasizes the need to
accept that there are some things that you simply cannot communicate. He talks
about the use of ‘re’ (pronounced like ‘ray’) by the character Tanay in the
first part of the novel. Pinto writes,
Tanay uses ‘re’ constantly. It gives his monologue an intensity, a spontaneity and an affectionate intimacy that has no equal in English. I tried to use the word ‘love’ as a substitute… but it was not equal in valency or intensity.
Pinto, in the novel,
also chooses to retain some original Marathi words such as ‘Aai’ (mother), ‘Baba’
(father), and ‘kelvan’ (a ceremony). Pinto discusses the experience of reading
not just a translated text but any text. He says that sometimes the
sheer pace of the narrative carries us along such that there is no time to
check “the meaning of the architrave behind which the diamonds have been stashed”;
sometimes we act on instinct like so many children did when they read Enid
Blyton. Most of the times, according to Pinto, we get the sense of the word
from the context and read on.
Translation, then, inescapably
involves choice and choice implies interpretation as Snehaprava Das writes in
the ‘Translator’s Note’ to One Thousand
Days in a Refrigerator: Stories by Manoj Kumar Panda (translated from Odiya
to English). Language, writes Das, is not merely a collection of words and
rules of grammar but a vast, interconnected system of connotations and cultural
references. Describing her experience of translating Panda’s works, Das
considers the “typical cultural-specific language system” employed by Panda
which “seems to hover threateningly on the edge of untranslability”. She considers
the skepticism felt by the translator in ensuring an impossible ‘exactitude’;
it is impossible because meaning is slippery. Panda himself writes that the
path towards meaning is a ‘jagged’ and ‘mysterious’ one. Therefore, Das describes
the translator’s role as,
A translator’s role—as is often postulated—could be compared to that of an artist; for example, a musician or an actor who interprets a work of art.
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