I started a project to translate the Daodejing from Chinese into English a few months ago. I hadn’t been actively into translating for the better part of a decade, so I had forgotten what the hardest parts were. Trying to get back in saddle reminded me of what I had let slip.
I had forgotten the real impact and difficulty of things like word choice, code switching fatigue, weird grammar, literal versus inferential translation, preserving poetic intent, and other points like keeping track of tone, and consistency. These all played a major part in translation speed and efficiency.
Word Choice
Many concepts map across linguistic borders, but have different implications which makes word choice so important. The “rich” in: “This meal is rich,” may have a translation which is only insulting in the target language without rewriting the sentiment a culturally acceptable way. Certain words are formal or informal which can complicate a translation. An informal word in a formal work will look unprofessional or even insulting for the wrong thing.
In Chinese, the character for “spear” also means “gun”. Knowing when the work was written can affect making a translation history or fantasy. Certain words may be too new or too old for a given work. Even if the time is right, too colloquial an expression for an older person or too antiquated an expression for a younger person can also impact the implication of what they’re saying.
Code Switching Fatigue
Code switching is the act of shifting between languages in your head or during conversation. Translating for long periods of time makes this harder and harder. A few shorter sessions will outdo a day of just sitting and translate every time. The worst part is, the fatigue doesn’t show itself instantly, but the word choice, grammar, overall tone, and everything else just gets sloppier and sloppier and suffers substantially past a certain point.
Little breaks while translating, combined with things like: editing sessions to clean up previous text (so you don’t need to change languages as much), cleaning up formatting, and other administrative tasks can provide varying degrees of relief when translating. This doesn’t mean to slack off, but if you feel quality is slipping, shift gears or take a quick break. Polishing your own translation as you go can sometimes help solidify your translation.
Weird Grammar
Word choice isn’t the only thing that can impact how natural or accurate a sentence sounds. Different languages have different grammatical constructions, and some of those become downright weird when translated. If a certain construction has multiple meanings, there may not be an elegant or concise translation which encapsulates both.
Certain grammatical constructions are also used for dramatic effect, like the genderedness of a boat in English. Some things are personified, and some just plain aren’t depending on the language. It can be impossible to differentiate between choosing a given grammatical structure and making an interpretation of the text in many instances.
Literal vs. Inferential
You also have to make the decision how literal or inferential to be with your translation. Literal translations follow the words as near as they can, while inferential translations may make some sacrifices to accuracy in order to cater the translation to the inferred context of the document. Some documents or works will make little sense if they are too literal, but others should be as literal as possible. The purpose of the document can affect how literal or inferential to be just as much as the purpose of the translation.
A work which is academic in nature may do well to stay more literal to avoid coloring the translation. A more literal translation of a philosophical work can be more useful for avoiding an interpretation, while a more inferential translation may be necessary to make the work fit the author’s intention. I have butted heads with both of these in my translation of the Daodejing to the point some segments have multiple translations just to avoid stressing me out.
The choice to be more literal or inferential can also affect structuring. If you follow the original work entirely, a sentence may come after another that would better fit the linguistic trends in the target language if the order were changed around. The choice to flip these can also affect the translation, since the author may have intended the order and flipping it disrupts that intent.
Preserving Poetic Intent
Preservation of the poetic intent of a work manifests as the faithfulness to the original between languages, and the technical accuracy of the final product. The wrong word can fit better for effect and accuracy and still be less technically correct. Sometimes, in order to be readable, blind adherence to the original has to be sacrificed.
Dry, technical material doesn’t really matter as long as the final is accurate, but more artistic works will become dry and sterile, or make sacrifices to the author’s intent in order to preserve the poetic intent. Poetic license is essential otherwise the artistry of the original may be lost entirely.
If the art is made to be dirty, grimy, and raw, then sterilizing the word choice by formalizing it destroys the soul of the work. A social commentary may become a copywriter’s marketing piece, and a plain manual may become a Kafkaesque nightmare if you choose the wrong terms and fail to match the intention of the document. Poetic license needs to follow the intent of the work and the spirit of the translation.
Tone And Consistency
Matching the tone through longer works and maintaining consistency is another struggle with larger works. You must keep track of the tone in the document as it shifts to make sure each section matches its intention. Each section must be accounted for especially in heavily edited works as it may take many chapters to get back to the same writing style.
Consistency goes beyond the tone of the writing. Word choice and grammar are also essential to keep track of and to keep consistent. A philosophical term may translate multiple ways, but you need to ensure it is used the same way for each relevant usage. Certain terms are also easy to mix up. Keeping everything clean and sane for consistency means an okay translation in terms of words and grammar can be a great translation overall.
Conclusion
As you translate more and more, these get easier, but just like any skill, it requires upkeep and work. It has taken quite a bit of extra time and effort to get back in the saddle for translation. Keeping up with the word choice and the grammar is as much of a chore as keeping the whole thing consistent in terms of tone and usage. Each individual point is its own skill which requires work and focus to get down well.
Practice makes perfect, but adding in exercises to target each piece can help make it easier than trying to figure everything out in the field. I took several translation classes when I was in school and each was filled with exercises focusing on identifying these individual components and focusing on them. Working on vocabulary and grammar separate is also something I talk about in my article on language learning. It’s easier to do 10 tasks 1 at a time than to try and do 10 tasks all at once.
Image by Judith Scharnowski from Pixabay