Have any ESL anons read picrel in translation? I’m not as extreme as some of you who say translation kills the whole spirit of a book or whatever. But I always wondered how the slang and ebonics in Faulkner or Twain for example were translated. It seems impossible to me.
>>24839618>But I always wondered how the slang and ebonics in Faulkner or Twain for example were translated.Can you post one example of Faulkner?
>>24839635Here’s a quote I picked at random from Dilsey, one of the black servants:“I seen you. Oho, I seen you. Wasn’t nothing bothering him, was they. You just wait till your pappy come home. I wish I was young like I use to be, I’d tear them years right off your head. I good mind to lock you up in that cellar and not let you go to that show tonight, I sho is.”I just have no idea how you’d capture that phrasing except in English. Characters also sound different depending on who’s narrating, in a way that seems to me incredibly difficult to translate.
>>24839635>>24839657Here’s another from somewhere else that illustrates the point even better:“G’awn now. En ef you hurts Benjy, nigger boy, I dont know whut I do. You bound for de chain gang, but I’ll send you dar fo even chain gang ready fer you.”
>>24839618I read it in English and in Spanish, and the translation is terrible because it’s full of Spanish idioms — what we in Latin America jokingly call things like ‘tío, jolines’ (two words that are common in Spain but sound ridiculous to the rest of the Spanish-speaking world). It doesn’t respect the slang or the ebonics, and simply translates what the characters mean in the most basic way possible, just so it’s understandable, without any depth.>“I seen you.” Dilsey said. “Oho, I seen you.” She dragged Luster out of the corner, shaking him. “Wasn’t nothing bothering him, was they. You just wait till your pappy come home. I wish I was young like I use to be, I’d tear them years right off your head. I good mind to lock you up in that cellar and not let yo go to that show tonight, I sho is.”«Te he pillado». dijo Dilsey. «Ay, que te he visto». Sacó a rastras del rincón a Luster. Zarandeándolo. «Con que no había nada que le molestase, eh. Tú espera a que vuelva tu papá a casa. Ojalá fuera yo tan joven como antes, que ibas a ver lo que es bueno. Te voy a encerrar en el sótano y esta noche no te voy a dejar ir a la función. Puedes estar seguro».> I’ve caught you,” said Dilsey. “Oh, I’ve seen you.” She dragged Luster out of the corner, shaking him. “So there was nothing that was bothering him, huh. You just wait until your daddy comes home. I wish I were as young as before — then you’d see what’s good. I’m going to lock you up in the cellar and tonight I’m not going to let you go to the show. You can be sure of that.Pillado is exactly the kind of word Spaniards use that sounds ‘out of place’ to the rest of the Spanish-speaking world, even though we understand what it means
>>24839693>“Den do hit again,” Dilsey said. “G’awn, now. En ef you hurts Benjy, nigger boy, I dont know whut I do. You bound fer de chain gang, but I’ll send you dar fo evenchain gang ready fer you.”«Pues ahora haz igual», dijo Dilsey. «Ya puedes irte. Y como le pase algo a Benjy, negro, no sé lo que te voy a hacer. De todos modos acabarás en la cárcel, pero te aseguro yo que te mando allí antes de lo que crees».> Well now do the same," said Dilsey. "You can go now. And if anything happens to Benjy, black, I don't know what I'm going to do to you. In any case you'll end up in jail, but I assure you that I'll send you there sooner than you think
>>24839719>>24839734Wow, thank you. That’s fascinating. The color and individuality is all drained out. But I bet this is only really the case when we’re dealing with heavy dialect and slang. It’s scary to think that all the translations I’ve ever read might just be pale and bloodless imitations. Are there any examples of the same thing in Spanish literature being translated into English? My Spanish is only basic, and the only example of ‘slang’ I can think of in the conversations around here are words like cabrón, pinche, guey, etc. added into sentences the same way we’d use ‘fucking’ in English. But my Spanish is very basic.
>>24839772I think a good translator can do amazing things. Still, you have to keep in mind the whole debate going on about translations. For example, why so many translators seem to want to ‘rewrite’ books, some because they’re against literal translation, and others because they think they can translate what the author ‘meant to say’ using different words. You also have to consider how much it changes depending on which language you’re translating from, and the time period when those translations were made.A Modern translator would probably keep words like wey, pinche, or cabrón, since they’re pretty common now and people already know what they mean.I’ve also noticed that when reading 19th-century British authors, I often come across words that I don’t think are used in modern English anymore, but that are still common in Spanish even now.
>>24839618I can't tell if I hate Jason or>are traps gayLuster more.
>>24839618Swedish author Stig Dagerman was working on a translation of this but ended up in a fugue state and creating his own novel (The Island of the Doomed) instead. Then he killed himself without ever finishing his translation.
>>24839618I'd imagine translating the book, especially first two parts, would be quite interesting and challenging, even if no one reads it in my language.
>>24840173Jason is really sharp and witty. Luster is just a dickhead. But I guess anybody would become resentful if they had to babysit Benjy all day every day.
>>24840957I feel bad for laughing but that is a pretty perfect answer to the question of how difficult it is to translate
>>24839719Justo estoy leyendo una traducción y es así de lamentable. Por otro lado, hay otras traducciones formidables, "Luz de agosto" es una de ellas.
>>24839618I did (Spanish first language)The benjy chapter was the only difficult with the words. I also had my copy in spanish and the translator did a good job with his version.
