葛浩文-My-Writing-Life

TheWritingLifeByHowardGoldblattSunday,April28,2002;How'sthisforanoccupationaltestimonial:Thereisnosuchthingasagoodtranslator.Thebesttranslatorsmaketheworstmistakes.NomatterhowmuchIlovethem,alltranslatorsmustbecloselywatched.Orthis:Oyetranslators,donotsodonymizeus!Or:Traduttore-traditore.(Translator=traitor.)Whoarethesepeopleeveryonelovestohate,and,ifthey'resobad,howdotheygetawaywithwhatthey'redoing?Well,Iconfess:I'moneofthem.I'matranslator.Andouraccusers?ThepatronizingquoteattheverytopcomesfromIsaacBashevisSinger.Laterinhiscareer(1978),thankstoahostoftranslators,hereceivedtheNobelPrizeforLiteratureandchangedhistune:Sinceeverylanguagecontainsitsownuniquetruths,headmitted,translationistheveryspiritofcivilization.NextcomesMilanKundera,thereigningbêtenoireofourfraternity,whoshedstranslatorsthewaysnakesshedskin,andissaidtodevotealmostasmuchtimetooverseeingforeigneditionsofhisworkashedoestowriting(inthequoteabove,heisinveighingagainstatranslator'sdecisiontouseasynonymfromtimetotime).Finally,wemustthanktheItaliansforremindingusthateverytranslationisabetrayal.Isthisagreatjob,orwhat?Oh,sure,Pushkincalleduscarriersofthehumanspirit,andGoethereferredtoliterarytranslationasoneofthemostimportantanddignifiedenterprisesinthegeneralcommerceoftheworld.Buttheirswasakinder,gentlerage.Morerecently,JorgeLuisBorges,whoserelationshipwithhisEnglishtranslator,NormanThomasdiGiovanni,resemblednothingsomuchasaStephenKingnovel,wroteinasurprisinglypositivevein:Thetranslator'sworkismoresubtle,morecivilizedthanthatofthewriter:thetranslatorclearlycomesafterthewriter.Translationisamoreadvancedstageofwriting.It'sbeenmyexperiencethatmostwritersatleasttoleratethemenandwomengiventhetaskofrewriting--forthatissurelythenatureoftranslation--theirworkintootherlanguages.Sometimes,howeverrarely,apersonalrelationshipbetweenauthorandtranslatorgrowsoutoftheproject,whetherascordialasthatbetween,say,UmbertoEcoandWilliamWeaver,orasdestructiveasthatbetweenBorgesandDiGiovanni.Insomecases,thewriterhasbeenknowntomarryhistranslator!Towit,JoseSaramagoandhistranslatorfromPortuguesetoSpanish,PilarDelRio,wholiveandworkhappilyonaremoteisland.IcountasfriendsafewnovelistswhoseworkI'vetranslatedfromtheChinese.Inpartthatisaresultofthetrusttheauthors--fewofwhomreadEnglish--haveplacedinme,andinpartitisduetotheirwillingnesstodealwithinevitablequeriesregardingdifficulties,evenerrors,intheirtexts.MoYan,forinstance,whoseRedSorghumbroughthiminternationalrecognitionintheearly1990s,isoneofthosegraciousindividualswhosingsthepraisesofhistranslatorasoftenashistranslatorsingshisasanovelist.Wellawareoftheimpossibilityofaone-to-onecorrespondencebetweenChineseandEnglish,heisalwayshelpfulinrevealingobscureculturalandhistoricalaspectsofhiswork,andcomprehendstheunavoidablefactthatatranslationcanonlycomplement,notreplicate,theoriginal.Andyettherelationshipcannothelpbutbefragile,givenanauthor'sdesiretohavehisworkreachthebroadestpossibleaudiencewiththeexacteffectithadonitsoriginalreaders.Toooften,thatdesireisaccompaniedbyabsoluteignoranceaboutthenatureoftranslation,oradisdainforit,oracombinationofthetwo.OnewriterwhosenovelItranslatedtoasatisfyingmeasureofacclaimissaidtohaveassumedthatthenamethatappearsunderhisonthetitlepageactuallyassignedthetranslationtohisChinesestudentsandthensimplypolishedtheEnglishforpublication.SinceheandIhavenevermet,Icanonlyguessthatforhim,andforotherChinesewriters,theideathattheremightbesomeoneoutherewhonotonlyknowsbothlanguageswell,butwhoactuallyconsiderstheenterpriseassomethingmorethanastudent'sexercise,andtakesprideindoingitwell,istrulyalien.Ofcourse,thatwritermayhavereasonsforbelievingwhathedoes.Iremember,backin1981whileIwasteachingatUCLA,hearingasimilarstoryfromayounggraduatestudentwhowasinthefirstpost-CulturalRevolutioncontingenttocometotheUnitedStates.HerecountedbeingpartofaprojecttotranslateJosephHeller'sCatch-22intoChinese.Sincetheadministratorhadonlyonecopyofthebook,hetoreitapartandhandeditouttothemembersofaclass,onechapterperstudent.Whynot?It'sonlyatranslation!Onanotheroccasion,MobilOilcommissionedmetotranslateaprize-winningbookoneconomicreforms(translatorscan'talwaysbechoosy).TheauthorhadlittleknowledgeoftheoutsideworldandknewmeonlybymyChinesename.WespokeseveraltimesonthephoneandcorrespondedinChinesefrequentlyoverthemanymonthsittookmetoslogthrough600-pluspagesofindustrialandbureaucraticprose.Finally,aftercompilingalistoflocalismsandconceptswithwhichIwasunfamiliar,Iwroteforhishelp.That'swhenithithim:Iwasaforeignerandthereforedidn'treallyknowChinese!Thereturnlettercouldnothavebeenmorecondescendingifithadbeenwrittentoa10-year-old.TranslatorsmaywellagreewithGeorgeSteiner'sobservationthatNinetypercentofalltranslationisinadequate,butonlyasanacknowledgmentthat,oncethreshedintoadifferentlanguage,apieceofwritingistransformed,changed,notasameasureofthequalityofourwork.Translationisinadequate,butit'sallwehaveifgoodwritingistohaveitslifeextended,spatiallyandtemporally.Translationis,ofcourse,anunfinishedproject,whileanoriginalworkisfrozenintimeatthemomentofpublication.