The Editor's Dilemma

IN THE HIDDEN CHAMBER OF OUR INTIMACY ALL PROS AND CONS MINGLE.

A writer writes something. Next, an editor edits it, eliminating grammatical and factual errors and usually tightening the style if needed. The text then goes to a translator, whose job is to translate the text. A final editor (me!) then makes sure that the text is as natural sounding as possible in the target language.

THE FAMOUS TIGHTROPE WALKER HOUDINI WOULD SPREAD HIS ARMS.

The translator’s dilemma is the challenge that a translator faces when needing to relay something from one language that does not translate exactly or even smoothly. A joke is lost; do you “make up for it” later? How can you convey a stylistic flourish? Do cultural activities get explanations?

 

TIME SEEMS TO STAND STILL TILL MY HISTORY COMES ALIVE.

The particular translator's dilemma that I’ve been thinking about this week is the one that happens when for some reason the source language editor has not done their job. This is sometimes not because the editor did a bad job, but because the writer did not feel the need for an editor at all.

 

I WOULD ASSEMBLE IT THE WAY FIRST ANTHROPOLOGISTS WOULD ASSEMBLE SKELETON OF MESOZOIC SAURIANS.

The dilemma is this: What if the writer is a poor writer; what if the text is error-ridden in the extreme? Is the translator's job to make sure the writer's work is reproduced as faithfully as possible?  to make text sound as good as it can? to make the text easier for the reader? Is the translator's duty to the writer, or to the text, or to the reader?

 

SHE IMPERSONATES THE HEAVENLY AND HELLISH BEAUTY.

The language editor's dilemma is the same song at a different pitch. It IS an editor's job to fix factual, grammatical, and stylistic errors. The problem is, when the text gets to the translator, it should already have been cleared of error in the source text, and the language editor should really only be worrying about such stylistic changes as are necessary to make the text sound natural in the target language. Should.

 

IT TESTS TRESPASSING INTRUDERS IN AN INNOCUOUS FOREPLAY.

But. I just got done editing a book that had so many errors it was almost funny. I decided to go at it as the first editor should have done, which meant a lot of research. It turns out that I enjoyed it (the research part) a lot more than I’d expected. I turned in a text that was reasonably accurate, grammatically correct, and stylistically still a reasonable reflection of the writer. I feel a little morally conflicted, because the English version doesn’t align with the original as it should, which is beyond the call, but I felt I had to do it that way. I’m not even sure if I was appropriately loyal to the readers, who have now been robbed of some pretty funny stuff. However, since it was too good to throw it all away, I have given you a little taste of the meal.

 

HEROD WASHED HIS HANDS.

Comments

[ste3ve]

Ah. At first I thought "Um, Houdini wasn't..." then I thought "Oh, I'll have to Google whatever poem she's quoting this time." then I thought "No, that was Pilate." then I got it.

[tuckova]

I have pages of these, and I tried to get the ones most likely to induce an "Um?" in the non-pointy-headed; glad it worked! For commenting, I will give you two more: "She was lovely as the goddess Areola!" and "Regarding travel, the actual traveling is arduous."

[mig]

This rings a bell. Right now I'm translating a text, as faithfully as I can, then editing the translation to make it less stuffy. Luckily, there are no factual errors to worry about, just godforsaken farm houses and homespun art collectors.

[tuckova]

JV - WE SHALL NOT MEET TO TEST IT TOGETHER, OR TO DRINK UP TO IT! Yes, I also don't like poems in translation if they rhyme; it's too suspicious. Translation is challenge enough, I think. I think that most written work today is much more collaborative, or acknowledged to be more collaborative (check the "acknowledgments" page of any modern novel) - and this is my point with this guy: If Margaret Atwood, who basically spins words into gold, needs an editor, then so does everybody.

[tuckova]

Mig - CAMERAS THROW FRENZY OF THE OPEN SPACE. I think at times I'd be better doing the translation myself, though I think it's better as a team effort: writer/editor, translator/editor. Still, if they're using Google translate (and I often think they are)...
Anybody with you on their team is lucky; now if you could just learn Czech we'd be set!