Does Voice Translate Well?

Hedgetrimmer · Mar 23, 2010

We all hear how important voice is with fiction. I'm wondering, if a book is published in English with a strong, distinctive voice, what are the chances this voice will carry over if it's translated into a foreign language? Sure, the meaning may be the same, but voice comes from more than meaning. It's a precise choice of words and a special arrangement of the words to create a certain sound. Any bilingual folks out there who can answer from experience?

kaitie · Mar 23, 2010

It depends on the writing skill of the translator. That's been my experience, anyway. Unfortunately, I've seen quite a few cases where the translator might be a great translator, but they're just not a particularly good writer. I've also seen a couple of cases where the translator is an amazing writer and it carries over brilliantly.

Hedgetrimmer · Mar 23, 2010

kaitie said:
It depends on the writing skill of the translator. That's been my experience, anyway. Unfortunately, I've seen quite a few cases where the translator might be a great translator, but they're just not a particularly good writer. I've also seen a couple of cases where the translator is an amazing writer and it carries over brilliantly.

I love the simplicity of your answer. And of course it makes total sense.

donroc · Mar 23, 2010

I have an anecdotal experience that may help. Way back in grad school, circa 1959, a poet came to our writers group and in conversation waxed enthusiastic about Andre Gide. I asked what there was about Gide that impressed him because I could not get into his writing.

The poet replied, it is his voice and style.
Ah," I said, "that may explain it, for I do know French."

Without hesitating, he replied,"Neither do I." Then he seemed to be embarrassed.

Many present thought I set him up, but I had not.

So take this for what it is worth in the context of the question.

Joe Moore · Mar 24, 2010

It's a crap shoot that falls totally in the hands of the translator. I've had the first book in a series get translated but the publisher never bought the next three. Was it the book or the translator? Then I've had all four in a series bought and translated by the same publisher. Was the sales success the book or the translation? I have no idea. But I would guess that voice is much harder to capture in a different language than just retelling the story. You're relying in the talent and skills of the person chosen to do the translation.

kaitie · Mar 24, 2010

I definitely think voice is something most translators don't get. In general, it means you have to be able to at least understand writing/language well enough to understand how all the pieces fit together, and then you need to be skilled enough as a writer to replicate it. Getting the words down is the easy part. It's conveying the art that takes a real artist to succeed in. I've read quite a few translated works, and there are some that you read knowing the original was better and that the translator just isn't a very good writer. I tend to be pretty forgiving about this.

This is something I consider a lot, however, because I've been trying to get into translating.

10trackers · Mar 24, 2010

As a professional translator, I feel I can shed some light on this issue

As one of the above commenters said, it's basically a crap shoot. Big names get more expensive translators, who are often (note that I didn't say always, and for a reason) better than the ones that get the lesser gods.

Translation almost always comes at the bottom of the list, as an afterthought. I've gotten calls on Friday afternoon asking me if I could please translate this 80,000 word book before Monday morning. Uh, no.

In cases like that, the manuscript often gets divvied up in parts, and the different (in this case, probably seven to eight) parts get sent to different translators.

Yeah. Rest assured, if you wrote a bestseller and you're with a big publisher, your book will probably be treated with more care than that.

Priene · Mar 24, 2010

A very pretty poem, Mr. Pope, but you mustn't call it Homer.

as Richard Bentley said about Alexander Pope's translation of the Iliad.

Joe Moore · Mar 24, 2010

10trackers said:
In cases like that, the manuscript often gets divvied up in parts, and the different (in this case, probably seven to eight) parts get sent to different translators.

That's down right scary.

10trackers · Mar 24, 2010

Isn't it?

Actually, at some publishing houses, being a translator who is also a writer is something they hold against you. I've had people tell me that they were afraid someone like that would put too much of their own style into the translation instead of just translating what the manuscript says.

You seriously cannot win with some of these people

Hedgetrimmer · Mar 24, 2010

Joe Moore said:
That's down right scary.

Yeah, it is scary. I would think a publisher, having invested money in bringing the book to the public, would better understand how something like this can effectively ruin an otherwise good book. Everything stated above basically confirms what I was thinking. Glad to hear from those with first-hand knowledge.

Phaeal · Mar 24, 2010

I imagine it also matters what the original language is and what the translation language. Closely related languages vs. languages from entirely different groups. Similar cultures vs. dissimilar cultures. Equivalent vocabularies vs. disparate vocabularies. Hence, Spanish to Italian would be more likely to capture voice than English to Tibetan?

LuckyH · Mar 24, 2010

A recent translation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina won a literary prize for the German translator, a famous academic who actually travelled to Russia and researched the places written of and it was discovered that previous translations got some of it totally wrong.

I think it took the translator four years to complete her work.

PGK · Mar 24, 2010

I loved the Lord of the Rings in Greek, but not so much in English. I struggled with the Silmarilion (for months) in Greek, but enjoyed it in English. I hated Hell House in Greek, and was very pleasantly surprised when I read it in English.

The Thief of Always was wonderful in Greek and equally so in English.

So a good translation is important not only for the word to word translation but also for carrying the author's voice or changing it slightly for improvement (based on the needs of the language it's translated to).

I wish I could remember the name of the person who translated all the Clive Barker books I read because he (or she) did an excellent job keeping the voice nearly intact and just as good.

The Lonely One · Mar 24, 2010

Siddhartha was translated to English, I'm fairly sure. It still seemed to have a voice.

10trackers · Mar 25, 2010

LuckyH said:
A recent translation of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina won a literary prize for the German translator, a famous academic who actually travelled to Russia and researched the places written of and it was discovered that previous translations got some of it totally wrong.

I think it took the translator four years to complete her work.

This is true, but obviously that's not the norm, nor can it be. Translators usually get paid by the word, not for their time. It doesn't seem fair to take this as an example of 'see, it can be done right' when this was clearly a project she took on within the scope of her research.

An actual translator translating Anna Karenina (which is what, 350,000 words?) should have had that done in a couple of months, or he or she would be out of a job.

This is why I'm eventually going to translate my own novels

shaldna · Mar 25, 2010

shadow of the wind was a spanish novel, and it was amazing. i do wonder aometimes what it would be like to read it in spanish.

imagegod · Mar 25, 2010

Anyone know how rare 'double translations' are? That is, translating an existing translation back to English in order to correct for voice, etc?

Does Voice Translate Well?

Hedgetrimmer

What happened, just there?

kaitie

With great power comes

Hedgetrimmer

What happened, just there?

donroc

Historicals and Horror rule

Joe Moore

kaitie

With great power comes

10trackers

Pollyanna, Shedder of Casual Blood

Priene

Out to lunch

Joe Moore

10trackers

Pollyanna, Shedder of Casual Blood

Hedgetrimmer

What happened, just there?

Phaeal

Whatever I did, I didn't do it.

LuckyH

Oh, really?

PGK

They put those words in my head!

The Lonely One

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

10trackers

Pollyanna, Shedder of Casual Blood

shaldna

The cake is a lie. But still cake.

imagegod