PART OF THE PURSUIT OF GREAT TRANSLATION IS AGREEING TO BE PREPARED TO WRESTLE WITH IDEAS THAT ARE JUST NOT NORMAL, UP TO THE POINT OF BORDERLINE INSANITY
Foreword: I imagine that many people will believe that I am expressing myself with… unusual candour in this blog. However, my main objective here is discussion of the barriers of translation and making a solid case as to why I am a “good” professional translator (even though I’m probably damaging my prospects by helping my competitors by posting this).
It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that a great translator is concerned with the possibility of the people they do their work for “mis-reading” what they write, only to blame them for it; not so much because it is the easiest thing to do as because they just don’t see what other options there are anyway – whether or not the translator does / would.
It’s all about having an open mind in translation – or rather, communication. Picture this: person A asks person B what their name is, and person B responds, “Well, basically, my name is Anthony, do you know what I mean?” Check it: I can fully imagine people laughing over that, for two reasons. a) If someone tells you what their name is, that is but very simple and straightforward information – why say “basically” in connection with it? b) The same applies for the “do you know what I mean?” bit. I cannot emphasise this enough: part of having an open mind in translation is having an open mind with regard to expression, whether premeditated or incidental, and perhaps in particular if it’s hard to determine which of the two it really is.
So what is this blog really about? Now, obviously, being labelled as insane is enough to make anyone uncomfortable and quite possibly angry – perhaps in particular if it’s frivolous / false labelling. Of course, I realise that, in practice, people use words like “crazy” and “mad” all the time in complete casualness while having no true understanding of “insane” really means. It’s not enough to say that a person who is insane does something that’s unusual or is prone to it; but even I can only elucidate the meaning of it so much. In essence, it’s being out of touch with reality – a state of mind which effectively prevents normal perception, behaviour or social interaction. People who are insane ARE mentally ill.
Disclaimer: that said, far be it from me to mock or insult anyone whose condition leans that way, or judge them unfairly (it would only make me look bad, after all). Like Jeremy Kyle, I merely (sic) say it as it is.
I imagine that relatively many people – certainly those who are naïve – don’t know the difference between psychology and psychiatry. Google defines psychology as “the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context.” It is the science of the mind and mental processes. The definition of “psychiatry”, however, should probably be approached with more discretion. In any case, Google defines psychiatry as “the study and treatment of mental illness, emotional disturbance, and abnormal behaviour.” And I don’t see any way to become more knowledgeable in the latter field than to look at what triggers these things, which generally amount to cases of solidified perpetual fear of something whereby it has tacitly become a big “no-no” even to address them objectively, or a fully developed and reinforced envy or sadness or anger which is in tandem with denial or obsessive guilt, or simply an attitude of warped / unjustifiable / inexcusable priorities. Myself, I am just as concerned as I can be with what is real in translation and what isn’t – for everyone’s sake. As far as translation – or rather, my work as a professional translator – is concerned, I try to be prepared for those individuals who have a problem with my work criticising it out of an incongruent idea which could only have arisen from ideas which are… distorted in terms of either content or context, or both. I try to be prepared for surprise in general – I try to be prepared for what some may insist is unexpectable. But the frightening bit is how unlikely said individuals are to address these mental processes – certainly independently (with apologies to such individuals who would think that I am judging them unfairly). It can be a challenge to get someone to touch on an insane idea they have even when you are openly willing to make unexpected sacrifices and compromises in order to help them to do so. After all, plenty of insane ideas are seldom if at all defined in workable terms, which isn’t at all surprising when they so often lie in the subconscious. Of course, no-one should get into the habit of falsely labelling claims that are incorrect as a sign that those who state them are insane – only if there is no way to reason them, they are not logical and they are a product of something which just couldn’t be seriously suggested by anyone, however ignorant of reality they were.
Now, they say you should never underestimate the imagination of the young – this is especially true when they really do underestimate their own imagination (and I’m not even a father). But I’m on my guard against underestimating the imagination of my clients – especially when they underestimate their imagination. That said…
Anyone who has watched 8 Mile, the film starring Eminem, will be familiar with “rap battles” and what they are, and will invariably understand that the battles which audiences revel in the most are those with references to reality. It is common for one battler to make indiscreet references to reality – and not just such as they have experienced it – in the belief that it will be a potent weapon against their opponent, purely to gain applause and increase their chances of winning the battle; and these do include references to cruel reality events that they know their opponent has experienced, just to exploit them. Put simply, these references are by no means unlikely to be provocative, and I know as well as anyone who’s really into it that there are times when it has just gone too far – sometimes culminating in violence. The rap battle featured in this Youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxvCOqS60nk is not one of those battles. After all, it’s only easy to say that it’s just full of vapid and completely pointless comments which the opponents don’t so much “say” as “end up saying” (Mic Assassin in particular). And it’s only too easy to point out that there are so many offhand comments which in themselves reflect that the one stating them has no idea what they are talking about, and that they could never make a verifiable case for what they are saying in any way, even if they admitted that all they had going for them was reference to the realm of misinformed hearsay and such, simply because that doesn’t actually apply in such cases. They don’t validate or invalidate anything, but then everyone knows that. But at the end of the day, these people are just like everyone else in that they are only human, and I cannot emphasise how important it is to realise that a person is not just their history, including what they “should” be or essentially “are” (out of habit) for the same reason; like, one is as one does – and thinks – you know?
Basically, what I’m trying to say is that I strive to be prepared for my clients’ imagination which is part of their judgement of my work, and to be the first to go out of my way to maintain order and rationality when it’s only too easy to make guesses and propose wild theories at the drop of a hat.
That said, it’s all I can do to just be prepared for my own imagination and how it may work against me (you could say that it’s like: “I shall not underestimate my own imagination”). See the case studies below.
One
If you’re playing Civ 5 and you’re at war with Maria Theresa (the leader of the Austrians) and you declare peace with her, she says to you (in her native language of Austrian German): “Ich hoffe, ihr seid nun zufrieden. All das Getue, und nichts dahinter wie es scheint.” The English translation of this provided on a website devoted to this game is: “I hope you’re happy with yourself now. All that silly posturing, and yet nothing to back it up it seems.” I felt that I could do a better translation of that, but, admittedly, only after having seen that one. Something like: “I hope you are satisfied now. For all you have done, it would seem that there was nothing to it / nothing behind it.” But then, “done” is, admittedly, a literal translation of “Getue” (even though “Getue” meant as a noun indicating a concept rather than as a past participle), and “For all you have done” is not supposed to be an indication that she is actually impressed by “all you have done”. And “nothing to it” is not supposed to be taken in the sense of “this / that was only too easy”, hence my alternative suggestion of “nothing behind it” (like she was laughing at you). At the time, I thought my version was better, but now I don’t know. Say what you will.
Two
Taken from the original version in a recent German to English translation project: “Frau Schopp möchte sich nun beruflich in einer Region weiterbilden.”
My translation of this: “Professionally, Mrs. Schopp would like to obtain further education / training in another domain.”
Or maybe it’s like: “she would like to obtain further education / training in this particular industry, only in another location” i.e. the region bit. It’s just a thought. I may be wrong.
Three
Taken from the original in a recent French to English translation project “Le Pass, c’est aussi des événements toute l’année à découvrir sur www.pass.be”
Does that really translate as “The Pass also offers events throughout the year – discover full details on www.pass.be”, which is what I put, or is it about annual events (held at Easter, Christmas etc.)? – there was once a time when I never would have thought of the latter.
Oh yes, life is full of surprises, and it has to be appreciated that this is true even when you seriously believe that things couldn’t be any more favourable for you, whether there’s a goal involved or not. I am now confident enough to acquaint myself with just about anything “not normal” and capable of confusing me ineffably, without it rendering me insane. In the domain of translation: whatever definitions you are willing to assign to words, let me just say (as others have done) that thoughts are powerful things – truer words have never been spoken. But at the end of the day, I am very proud to be a professional translator, who provides multilingual services to others for a living, and I appreciate hugely the conditions that have enabled me to pursue this at all, let alone enjoy any kind of possibly enviable success.