| Translating
Fantasy and Science Fiction : The Peak of Creativity We all
know that many of the most loved science fiction and fantasy authors' work is
admired worldwide, but little do we know about the people who made it possible
for them to become so well-known. Apart from the people involved in publishing
there are quite a lot of other professionals without whom it wouldn't have been
possible. These are the translators.
 Most
people know little about translation, especially literary translation, and never
think of these people, as they are regarded merely as translating robots, tough
what they are doing is very far from what any machine could ever do.
First of all, knowledge is needed to do the job, but a good command of at least
two languages is still not enough. Yes, two. The reason for that is very simple
: one language is the one you translate from and the other one is the one you
translate to (possibly your mother-tongue). Translators also need to have some
knowledge on translation, too. (Actually, there is a special field of study called
Translation Studies which is dealing with the theory and practice of translation,
but, of course, this is not what I'd like to tell you about.) And
this is nearly not enough. These people also need creativity and talent, as they
have to recreate a text in an other language. This is a great responsibility,
as the author of the original novel, short story, etc. will be represented by
their work, and it will be judged only on the basis of that. Translators spend
quite a lot of time dealing with nuances of meaning and also with style, as their
aim is to achieve the same effect on the reader as that of the original text.
Understanding the content is therefore not enough.
The people who translate
science fiction and fantasy must, first of all, know these genres and they also
need to know the special vocabulary related to science and technology, mainly
to astronomy. This is, again, still not enough. They also have to be the exceptionally
creative ones, as these books are full of names for things that do not exist in
reality, as they are only the products of a writer's imagination. They deal with
everything from food names to names belonging to different life forms, places,
objects, military ranks or even names of drinks or institutions. I
would say that this is the type of fiction, where, practically, anything is possible.
From the linguists' point of view these are called 'neologisms', which is a term
applied to both newly coined words and expressions or old words that aquire a
new sense. Sometimes translators take over these words unchanged, which is the
easiest solution, but one that can mainly be used in the case of words that belong
to places or people. Sometimes the spelling and thus the pronounciation is changed
in a way that is more convenient to the reader. At other times, the words get
endings that are characteristic of the the language to which we translate. Words
that bear some sort of meaning are much more difficult to translate, as one cannot
just open a dictionary and look them up. Sometimes they are simply left out, or
a word is added to help the reader understand the meaning, even though translators
try to avoid changing the text dramatically, and do not add or omit words unless
they find it absolutely necessary to do so. It is widely accepted that there is
no translation without any kind of loss, and one has to be able to make such decisions.
There are several ways for compensating for such losses, for example if a word-play
is lost, you may introduce a similar word-play at an other place in the text,
where it is possible to do it. Of course, one has to be very careful when trying
to do such a thing, weighing all the possibilities. This is
not an easy task but it is well worth the effort. Sometimes you can simply translate
these names on the basis of the context, but it is also possible that you have
to find out something that has a similar effect or similar connotations. The most
difficult task is, definitely, when you have to create a brand new word, which
you think would to be suitable for that particular object or being the writer
writes about.
Now you can have an idea about how much work is involved
in translation, and what qualities a good translator needs to have. Some of these
people take up writing and become famous, but most of them remain unknown and
in a lot of countries they are also underpaid and work without getting the respect
they deserve. After writing about all these things, I'm sure
that next time you read a good book, which was translated from an other language,
you will look up the name of the translator, too. Ilona
Hegedus (c) Ilona Hegedus 2004 
About
the Author
Ilona is a young Hungarian writer and literary translator, a
graduate with English and Librarian majors, who wrote her thesis on the translation
of neologisms in two books of Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe). Among other things, she writes
a lot of SF, F and Horror (mainly poems). For more information on her writings
visit her website: http://www.tar.hu/fairy
| |
OTHER CONTENT - October 2004
Andrew Fox Interview
A conversation with Andrew Fox author of Bride of the Fat White Vampire.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Juliet E. McKenna Interview
October sees the launch of the first volume in a new series - The Aldabreshin Compass - from fantasy author Juliet E. McKenna. So we scooted down to Oxford to pose her a few questions amidst the spires and students.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Translating Fantasy and Science Fiction : The Peak of Creativity
We all know that many of the most loved science fiction and fantasy authors' work is admired worldwide, but little do we know about the people who made it possible for them to become so well-known. Apart from the people involved in publishing there are quite a lot of other professionals without whom it wouldn't have been possible. These are the translators.
(ARTICLES)
Horror Writer Barbara J. Ferrenz Interviewed
What's worse than death? On the one hand, it's the title of a novel by school psychologist and writer Barbara J. Ferrenz of Dunkirk, MD. On the other hand, maybe it's better never to know.
(AUTHOR INTERVIEWS)
Alien vs. Predator
Director Paul W.S. Anderson serves up a meager monster mash spectacle that borders on the silly-minded and slimy by sizing up the terrorizing tag-team of creature feature cads Alien and the Predator in the obviously titled scarefest Alien vs. Predator.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Catwoman
In watching the curvy Oscar-winning Halle Berry don the skin tight suit in the sassy anti-superhero saga Catwoman, one must admit that this special eye candy is something that cannot be denied. And director Pitof does in fact lend this picture its glossy and mysterious allure in a unique manner that’s inescapable to ignore. Beyond these couple of minor observations, this cosmetic kitty with the conflicting personality doesn’t quite cut it as the escapist comic caper it could have been.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Exorcist: The Beginning
The scattershot incompleteness to Renny Harlin’s ill-advised follow-up to William Friedkin’s classic creep show is evident in the flimsy frightfulness of the overwrought and putrid prequel Exorcist: The Beginning. For those that had to endure inferior sequels to Friedkin’s twisted and treasured pea soup-regurgitating nightmarish narrative (read: Exorcist: The Heretic), they may yearn more for this sluggish supernatural tale to end as opposed to embracing its so-called Beginning.
(FILM REVIEWS)
The Village
One expected a terrific output from immensely talented writer-director M. Night Shyamalan concerning his latest supernatural saga The Village. Unfortunately for the normally resilient filmmaker, The Village is a meandering and morbid chiller that is a labored muddy vision of Shyamalan’s usual insightful and involving hedonism.
(FILM REVIEWS)
Offworld Report: Science Fiction and Fantasy: October 2004
Interviews with Jack Dann, Ian R MacLeod, Larry Niven, China Mieville and the stars of Stargate and Sky Captain, why fantasy novelists are the new thing, Noreascon reports and The Andromeda Strain heads for a remake.
(NEWS)
Offworld Report: Weird Science: October 2004
NASA finds a Ring World, the space elevator is abandoned, robot spiders, the mystery radio signal isn't aliens calling in, hydrogen fuel gets realistic, and lunar advertising - coming to a moon near you soon?
(NEWS)
|
CHAT
ABOUT THIS STORY
Advertise
Here (More ...)
|
