COMMUNICATION: THE ART OF UNDERSTANDING AND BEING UNDERSTOOD… DISCUSSED IN A CONTEXT OF TRANSLATION
If there is indeed an “art to understanding and being understood”, then there can be no reason to dispute the idea that it has great significance when it comes to the art / practice of translation. Lots of people can find it easy enough to talk about how translation can be challenging, at at least a rudimentary level – although it’s probably based on bad translations and nothing but – but when it comes to the actual practice of translation, no translator wants to write anything which, inadvertently on their part, could leave the reader guessing. As a professional translator, I certainly don’t.
Now, some of my clients can be really strict and uncompromising as they judge the quality of my work. But who am I to judge them for it? In my own defence, however, when you do what I do, there’s always a chance of you being judged harshly following a decision you made purely as a result of being misled by your own imagination and nothing but. And what could be worse than being afraid of where your imagination will take you? If that applies to you, are you just… not free?
Just remember that “second-hand opinions don’t make you look any smarter” – a quote from this Natalie Imbruglia song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTqHnW29iVI