Texts in another language are the most genuine representation of a person's personal world. The language itself contains an entirely different culture, in their feel and their ideas and expressions. But unfortunately, language is a frontier that is not so easily crossed. Crossing it requires time and understanding, learning a new language to the point where one can connect with it and understand the culture that is engrained within the particular text. However, there is a short-cut to this understanding, albeit a perilous one where a lot must be sacrificed in order to cross over. That is the route of translation.
A work in translation will NEVER feel like the original. Try to translate any poem into any language and you will notice that it doesn't feel like the original. The concepts and ideas transmitted in the translation will lack the essence of the language. Translating from spanish to english causes the roughness and simplicity of the Spanish language to disappear, while going the other way around makes the English language's elegance and sophistication vanish. This type of sacrifice that has to be made in order to trespass the cultural frontiers in texts and gain basic understanding of the ideas. But in a constantly globalizing world where cultures become more and more easily connected with each passing year, learning a new language and experiencing other cultures first hand is easier than ever. So the question has to be asked, is the sacrifice truly worth it? Wouldn't it be better to simply learn the new language and experience the culture first hand?
Personally, I'd say yes and yes. It would be better, but the sacrifice allows for a connection that would otherwise be hard to create.
I agree with everything said up until the end. In nearly every issue, I am an advocate of gradual change, this is not different to me. I think for a truly in depth knowledge of a language, to the intimacy level described, one must first fall in love, so to speak, with the language through translated stories.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you where an author is able to create his own culture when writing his stories, however, it would almost always seem that it also includes some aspects of their own culture. This is why i believe that by studying and understanding one culture to the fullest extent, translator will have a more successful result. I like your connection to Spanish and i do agree as i also see this in my own language. To your last question, i too say yes and yes
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