Two Words: The Blog of the Center for the Art of Translation


Translation Lecture and the National Book Critics Circle Awards

Posted on January 24, 2012, 11:51:00 AM by Scott Esposito

Some recent news from the translation sphere—first up, the University of California at Berkeley's French Department will be offering a lecture on March 2 on an issue dear to many translators: trying to find a place for the discipline in higher education. Here's the description from Cal's website:

The Observer’s Robert McCrum declared 2011 a “boom year” for translation. It saw the anniversary of the King James’ Bible, the flourishing of literature in translation (Stieg Larsson, Haruki Murakami) and a new English version of the Roman missal. At the beginning of 2012, we may all be familiar with Google Translate and David Bellos’ much- celebrated book on translation. Where translation is not flourishing, however, is in higher education. In this lecture, I argue that translation deserves a more central position in higher education in the United States. I begin by considering the place of translation today: why is it considered old-fashioned as a pedagogical tool? Why are there so few courses and programs in translation? Why should it be accorded a larger role in higher education? The main section of the lecture focuses on translation from the perspective of a language instructor. Translation can offer significant theoretical insights. We will explore what it can reveal about languages, people, culture and texts. It also has many practical applications. We will consider its use in the language classroom and how it can be incorporated into language programs. The final section looks to the future: What do new media, social networking and globalization mean for translation?

And secondly, earlier this week the nominees for the National Book Critics Circle's 2011 awards were announced. Two of the five "Criticism" nominees deal quite deeply with translation. David Bellos' book Is That a Fish in Your Ear? is all about translation, and Dubravka Ugresic's Karoke Culture is a translated work, published by the wonderful Open Letter Press.


Jan 26: A Translator of "Urgent and Essential Importance"

Posted on January 17, 2012, 01:32:00 PM by Scott Esposito

On January 26, we're co-hosting Perry Link, whose new translation of Chinese Nobel Peace Prize recipient Liu Xiaobo was just called a "new book whose reading should be of urgent and essential importance" in the New York Review of Books. The book is No Enemies, No Hatred, published by Graywolf, which is doing more and more translations these days.

First the event details:

Mechanics Institute Library
57 Post Street, San Francisco
6:00 pm
FREE for members of the Mechanics Institute, the Asia Society, or Center mailing list subscribers

Now on to the review. It's a rather remarkable review and it shows why we're excited to be having Link for the event. It starts out by saying:

Bookshops are now submerged by a tidal wave of new publications attempting to provide information about China, and yet there is (it seems to me) one new book whose reading should be of urgent and essential importance, both for the specialist and for the general reader alike—the new collection of essays by Liu Xiaobo, judiciously selected, translated, and presented by very competent scholars, whose work greatly benefited from their personal acquaintance with the author.

The review is worth a read, as it gives a fascinating history of Xiaobo:

At that moment, Liu Xiaobo was in New York, having accepted an invitation to teach political science at Columbia’s Barnard College. Like many Chinese intellectuals before him, Liu had first idealized the West; however, his experiences, first in Europe and then in the United States, soon shattered his illusions. During a visit to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, he experienced a sort of epiphany that crystallized the turmoil of his latest self-questioning: he realized the shallowness of his own learning in the light of the fabulous riches of the diverse civilizations of the past, and simultaneously perceived the inadequacy of contemporary Western answers to mankind’s modern predicament. His own dream that Westernization could be used to reform China suddenly appeared to him as pathetic as the attitude of “a paraplegic laughing at a quadriplegic,” he confessed at the time.

And it makes the book of essays sound really interesting:

Some of the essays focus on specific events, from which the author draws deeper lessons; others address broader sociopolitical and cultural issues, which are then illustrated with examples drawn from current incidents.

A good example of the first type is provided by an important article exposing the horrendous case of the “Black Kilns.” (Later on, at Liu’s last trial, this was one of the six essays adduced as evidence of his criminal attempt at “subversion of state power.”) In May 2007, parents of children who had gone missing in Henan province reported their disappearance to courageous local television journalists. It turned out that operators of the brick kilns in Shanxi province had organized large kidnapping networks to supply their kilns with slave labor, and local authorities in two provinces had apparently been complicit in these criminal rackets.

The police proved singularly inept in their attempt to dismantle these abominable networks: only a small number of children were found and rescued—10 percent of the more than one thousand missing. Penal sanctions, which are usually ruthless in dealing with dissent from Party authority, were glaringly perfunctory and superficial: ninety-five Party members and public officials were involved, but they were merely subjected to “Party discipline,” and not to criminal charges. Higher officials only received “serious warning from the Party.” Liu concludes: “The mighty government, with all of its advantages and vast resources, is not ready to do battle with the Chinese underworld.” The main concern of the Communist Party, he writes, is to maintain its tight monopoly over all public power. Officials at every level are appointed, promoted, or dismissed at the exclusive will of a private group: the Party itself.


Khaled Mattawa Wins 2011 Saif Ghobash-Banipal Prize for Translations of Adonis

Posted on January 17, 2012, 10:15:00 AM by Scott Esposito

As reported at Three Percent, translator Khaled Mattawa has received the 2011 Saif Ghobash-Banipal Prize for his translations of Syrian poet Adonis:

Khaled Mattawa’s translation of this selection of Adonis’s poetry is destined to become a classic. It is a monumental piece of work, a long-overdue compendium of works by one of the most important poets of our time, a contribution to world literature that demonstrates the lyricism and full range of Adonis’s poetry. The translations are supple and fluent, flexible yet accurate, consistently sensitive to the poet’s nuances, and beautifully render into English Adonis’s modernist sensibilities. Anglophone readers will gain a new appreciation of why Adonis has so often been likened to TS Eliot and Ezra Pound, with the freshness of his lines and imagination liberated from the self-conscious archaism of other translations, and allowing his unique reworking of the legends of East and West, the arcs of love and death, to spring forth. This book should ensure that Western readers recognize the significance of Adonis’s contribution to world poetry.

These translations can be read in Adonis: Selected Poems, published by Yale University Press

This is great news for Mattawa and great news for TWO LINES as well, which published some of Mattawa's translations in 2009, before they were available in book form. Those translations are available along with over 30 others in Wherever I Lie Is Your Bed, purchasable from the Center right here.


Russia's Best-Kept Secret and Zapotec Poetry: TWO LINES People in the News

Posted on January 10, 2012, 01:52:00 PM by Scott Esposito

One of the cool things about publishing TWO LINES is getting to see the people we publish in there then pop up in other places as their work gains momentum in English. As far as TWO LINES alumni appearing elsewhere goes, it's been a pretty good week.

First off, Mikhail Shishkin, whom we published in Marian Schwartz's translation in Some Kind of Beautiful Signal (TWO LINES 17) has an article dedicated to him as Russia's "best-kept literary secret." That article starts: Mikhail Shishkin has won all of Russia’s major literary awards, but his work is only just now being translated into English." And then it says

Shishkin’s own novels transcend the narrowly political, exploring instead the underlying human narratives of history. His works are in every sense long overdue for translation, and the time is finally here: Shishkin is the only novelist to have won the Russian Booker, Big Book and National Bestseller awards, as well as a legion of other prestigious prizes, and yet his work remains almost unknown in the English-speaking world.

Shishkin has been compared to numerous great writers, including Anton Chekhov, Vladimir Nabokov and James Joyce. He laughs at critics’ need to find literary similarities, but admits that Chekhov has been influential, along with Leo Tolstoy and Ivan Bunin, from whom Shishkin said he learned not to compromise as an author. “If you say to yourself ‘I will write for such-and-such a readership’ – you immediately stop being a writer and become a servant,” Shishkin said in explanation.

Adding to the Shishkin excitement is that Open Letter will be publishing his Maidenhair in 2013, but if you can't wait you can order a copy of Some Kind of Beautiful Signal, which, incidentally, also has stuff from Roberto Bolaño, Inger Christensen, Adolfo Bioy Casares, and tons more.

Our second piece of the week comes from Claire Sullivan, who translated some Zapotec poetry for Some Kind of Beautiful Signal. She has just published a piece on Zapotec poetry for World Literature Today titled, "The State of Zapotec Poetry: Can Poetry Save an Endangered Culture?" You can get an idea of the challenge of translating the poetry:

One of the complications that arises when sharing Zapotec poetry with the rest of the world originates in the complexity of its sound. Like classical Greek and Latin, Isthmus Zapotec has both long and short vowels. Importantly for poetry, this means that syllables will vary in length. And, unlike Spanish or English, Zapotec is a tonal language with three pitches: low, high, and ascendant (the movement from a low to a high tone). In spoken language and in poetry, however, the stress does not necessarily correspond to a high or ascendant tone, nor does it always take place on a long syllable. Therefore, sound becomes much more complicated than in Spanish or English where the poet only needs to match consonant and vowel patterns.

By way of comparison, in a Shakespearean sonnet, sound is governed by the rhythm of iambic pentameter and by alternate end rhyme. In Zapotec poetry, such patterns must also be accompanied by the repetition of syllabic duration and tone. Carlos Montemayor offered a single verse from the poem "Beeu" (Moon) by Víctor Terán as an example: "gucagasi, nanda." This verse has six syllables of equal length (short), but the sound gets interesting when one compares the accented syllables to their tones. The stress falls on the first, third, and fifth syllables, while the tones are as follows: low (l) on the first syllable; high (h) on the second, third, and fifth; and ascendant (a) on the fourth and sixth.


TWO VOICES: Counterfeits Release Reading, with Luc Sante, Patrick Philips, Alyson Waters, Adam Giannelli, Alex Zucker, and Magdaléna Platzová

Posted on January 5, 2012, 12:45:00 PM by Scott Esposito

On November 9, 2011, the Center for the Art of Translation celebrated the release of Counterfeits, its 18th annual anthology of world literature, with a star-studded event in New York City. You can listen to the audio from that event right here.

The event occurred at the wonderful McNally-Jackson independent bookstore and was co-hosted by the largest translation-only events series in New York City, The Bridge. Luc Sante, who co-edited Counterfeits with poet Rosanna Warren, MC'd the event, getting the evening started off with some introductory remarks about the importance of translation.

From there, it was on to the readers, who, in addition to reading from the authors they translated, also offered contextual information and insight into their work:

 

  • Patrick Philips, reading his work with Henrik Nordbrandt, one of the leading Danish poems of his generation since the 1970s
  • Alyson Waters, reading her work with Albert Cossery, the famous French-Egyptian author renowned for his highly ironic, acerbic wit and baroque style
  • Adam Giannelli, reading his work with the Argentine poet Alejandra Pizarnik, a Guggenheim and Fullbright fellow frequently compared to Sylvia Plath
  • Alex Zucker, with special guest author Magdaléna Platzová (reading from her work in Czech), reading from the short story "Alphonsine" by Platzová, an acclaimed Czech writer whose criticism is published widely

 


Damion Searls to Receive Translation Prize

Posted on January 3, 2012, 04:12:00 PM by Scott Esposito

Congrats to TWO LINES contributor Damion Searls, who will receive the 2011 Austrian Cultural Forum Translation Prize for his translation of Austrian playwright and novelist Elfriede Jelinek’s essay "her not all her (on/with Robert Walser)."

Searls was published in Ages, TWO LINES volume V. He also appeared as part of our Two Voices events series, discussing his translation of Jon Fosse's Aliss at the Fire, which you can listen to here.

The work Searls translated is dedicated to the Swiss writer Robert Walser, who has become a star-in-translation lately. As fate would have it, we hosted Walser's main English translator, Susan Bernofsky, for a Two Voices event, which can be listened to at this link.


TWO LINES Online: January 2012

Posted on January 3, 2012, 12:43:00 PM by Scott Esposito

We've just published the January 2012 installment of TWO LINES Online, featuring 8 poems by two major writers of international literature: Uruguayan poet Eduardo Milán (pictured to the left), and French poet Marie-Claire Bancquart. It's all right here.

Milán is an author we've featured previously in TWO LINES, publishing John Oliver Simon's translations of his poetry in Counterfeits. He's the author of over a dozen books and has received the prestigious Premio de Poesía Aguascalientes.

Bancquart has received a number of awards (including the Grand Prix de critique de l’Académie française, Grand prix de l’Association internationale des critiques, and prix Sainte-Beuve) and is the author of over 20 collections.

Go ahead and get started on these poems right here.


TWO VOICES: Robert Hass, Greg Delanty, and Michael Matto Discuss Anglo-Saxon Poetry

Posted on December 15, 2011, 01:11:00 PM by Scott Esposito

This event brought together editors, poets, and translators Robert Hass, Greg Delanty, and Michael Matto to talk about some of the great richness of Anglo-Saxon poetry. Delanty and Matto are coeditors of The Word Exchange, which features over 70 contemporary poets (Hass included among them) translating a wealth of Anglo-Saxon verse into modern English. In this audio you can hear Hass, Delanty, and Matto read in both English and Anglo-Saxon while discussing these poems.

Delanty started the event by talking about the process of translating from Old English into modern English. Part of the question with translating from a historic language like Old English is the degree to which a translator should stay true to the original, versus trying to find equivalents in modern English. Another difficulty, which Hass and Matto discussed later on, was balancing between the sound of the Old English and the meaning of the translation.

Matto then discussed what exactly Old English is and where this poetry comes from. Pride of place was given to the year 1066, in which William the Conqueror ("also known as 'William the Bastard,'" explained Matto, "not just because he was an illegitimate child") brought the French language to England, initiating a cross-fertilization that was hugely important to Old English. Matto also discussed how Old English literature was very much oral—many, many poems in The Word Exchange were never written down until they were codified by scholars. He went on to note the great similarities between the poems known to be oral and the ones known to be written, and he discussed the various kinds of meter and form found in Old English poetry.

As Matto explained, the poems read here show "the range of diversity" in interpreting from the Old English verse. To demonstrate this, he read one of the various maxims, noting the differences in interpretation. For instance, here's Brigit Kelly's translation of a maxim:

Frost must freeze, fire melt wood earth bear fruit, ice build bridges, and, most wonderful, water put on a glass helmet to protect the earth's sprouts. . . .

And then a different approach to another maxim, by Mark Halliday:

To live well is to do what needs doing. If you have wise counsel, speak it clearly; but when secrecy is wise, write silent words. If you have a song, sing it. When you must judge, then judge. The day for action is always today. . . .

Hass than talked about his history with Old English and the poetry that he translated for The Word Exchange. He discussed the "dance" of influences from which Old English was made, and he noted that for many years the survival of Anglo-Saxon literature was dependent on "hobbyists" until renewed interest in the literature by scholars after Shakespeare's time. Hass made stirring remarks about the use of violence in Old English poetry, declaring that many of the great works of Anglo-Saxon poetry falls into a European poetic "celebration of violence in a world dominated by wars." He situated Tennyson's famous "Charge of the Light Brigade" as the last in this lineage of poetry, being the final time anyone could "get away with" senselessly glorifying violence as Tennyson did.

The event concluded with a particularly energetic question and answer session, with Delanty, Hass, and Matto interjecting among one another on questions including the best translation of Beowulf and the tradition of violence in Anglo-Saxon poetry.


Favorite Translation Covers of 2011?

Posted on December 13, 2011, 11:39:00 AM by Scott Esposito

I was a little disappointed to see that only one translation (The Selected Canterbury Tales) made it up on Publishers Weekly's 10 top covers of 2011 list. As Matt Rowe put it on our Facebook page:

I think Melville House, Archipelago, Europa, Open Letter, Dalkey Archive, and New Directions all do great jobs with their covers, often with the advantage that the publisher or series is immediately recognizable at a glance. PW seems to prefer covers that stick out, though I don't get some of their choices.

We agree, and in the sprit I've corralled some 2011 translated book covers that I think exemplify great design. Tell us your favorites! Email me at sesposito AT catranslation DOT org.

 

 

 

This is a great example of a powerful, understated cover that works perfectly with the title and substance of the book. Props to Dalkey Archive on this one!

 

 

 

Here, Melville House used their longstanding "Art of the Novella" design in an intriguing new way, putting together 5 books all titled The Duel that were released on the same day. And 4 of them are translations.

 

Here's a fun cover that captures the feel of the book and makes the most of the fact that, yes, this is a book from a foreign place being sold in the English market.

 

All of Open Letter's titles have a great unity of feel, even as each cover is distinct. This one uses a nice layering of words and visual effects to play off the key word of the title.

 

Here's a great work by a classic Spanish author. The cover perfectly embodies what the title tells you, and the black fade on the orange backround really stands out.

 


Apply for a Banff Residency by Feb 15

Posted on December 12, 2011, 10:41:00 AM by Scott Esposito

The Banff Center translation residency is accepting applications through Feb 15, 2012. If you are a translator with a project in progress, you simply must do this! It's an incredible experience, a great addition to any resume, and it's co-directed by the amazing translator Katie Silver.

Details on the application process here. And here's a description of the program.

Inspired by the network of international literary translation centres in Europe, the Banff International Literary Translation Centre (BILTC) is the only one of its kind in North America. The primary focus of the residency program is to afford working and professional literary translators a period of uninterrupted work on a current project, within an international community of their colleagues.

The program is open to literary translators from Canada, Mexico, and the United States translating from any language, as well as to international translators working on literature from the Americas (both the North and South American continents). Since the inaugural program in 2003, the Centre has hosted translators from approximately 30 countries translating work involving nearly 40 languages. The annual BILTC residency program has places for 15 translators.

Translators may request a joint residency of up to one week with the author they are translating. Most guest authors come from Canada, the United States, and Mexico, but the program is sometimes able to bring authors from farther away. Consultation with the program directors and experienced translators serving in residence as advisors is also available. Three or four times a week participants meet for informal presentations, workshops, and readings, and to discuss their work in progress with the group.

And as Three Percent notes:

This year’s faculty will include Roberto Frías, Russell Scott Valentino, Lori Saint-Martin, and others. And anyone planning on participating should plan on arriving in Banff on Sunday, June 3, 2012, and departing on Sunday, June 24, 2012.