Sobre traducción/About translation
(English translation below the line)
Hace tiempo un profesor me dijo que una traducción es una obra completamente nueva, basada en una obra original. Pero, ¿qué significa eso?
Humm… bueno, no es fácil de explicar, y yo no soy profesora, pero al menos intentaré no confundirlos… mucho. Cuando una obra es traducida, es decir, es reescrita en otro idioma, parte de su esencia se pierde inevitablemente. Esto no es culpa de los traductores –a veces sí lo es –sino de las limitaciones del lenguaje.
Con esto no quiero decir que hay idiomas que son mejores que otros, pero existen palabras que no tienen equivalente en otros idiomas. Hay palabras que engloban una mezcla de emociones, situaciones o costumbres típicas de un país, por ejemplo: “Cafune” (del portugués de Brasil) que es el acto de deslizar tus dedos suavemente por el cabello de un ser querido, o “Ya’arburnee” (Árabe) que es una declaración de amor que expresa que morirías antes de esa persona porque no podrías vivir sin ella.
De ser posible, siempre es mejor leer una obra en su idioma original –lo lamento Aristóteles, no sé griego antiguo –pero cuando no es posible, siempre se debe buscar la mejor traducción que haya.
La mejor traducción no es la que reescribe, palabra por palabra, de manera literal, sino la que es capaz de entender o aproximarse a la esencia de la obra original, sin importar mucho que cambie algunas palabras mientras esto preserve el espíritu de la original en el lenguaje al que está siendo traducida.
Aunque suenan un tanto complicadas, existen traducciones de este tipo. Por ejemplo, la mejor traducción de la obra del escritor Edgar Allan Poe al español –y esto no lo digo yo, lo dicen grandes conocedores del tema –la escribió Julio Cortázar. Para saber qué traducciones son buenas, a veces sólo basta con investigar un poco en internet, leer la opinión de varios críticos expertos o averiguar cuál editorial o traductor hizo la traducción.
Queridos lectores, han llegado al final. Las críticas son bienvenidas, especialmente si son sobre mis habilidades como traductora. ¡Gracias por su tiempo y espero que encontraran interesante este post!
Long ago, a teacher told me that a translation is a completely new literary work based on an original one. But, what does it mean? Hmm… well, it isn’t easy to explain, and I’m not a teacher, but I’ll try not to confuse you… too much. When a literary work is translated, that is to say, it’s rewritten into another language, it losses part of its essence. This occurrence is not the translators’ fault –sometimes it is –but rather languages’ limitations. By this, I don’t mean there are languages that are better than others; I mean there are words that don’t have an exact translation into other languages. Words that represent a mix of emotions, situations or customs from a specific country. “Cafune” (Brazilian’s Portuguese) for example, is the action of softly threading your fingers through a dear person’s hair, and “Ya’arburnee” (Arabic) is a love’s declaration that means you would die before that person would because you couldn’t live without them. If possible, it’s always better to read a literary work in its original language –I’m sorry Aristotle, I don’t read ancient Greek –but when it’s not, it’s advisable to find the best translation. The best translation is not the one that literally rewrites word for word, but the one that is able to understand or approach the essence of the original work, without caring too much if it changes some words to preserve the spirit of the original when reworking it into another language. Although this kind of translation sounds complex, there are some examples of it: the best Spanish translation of writer Edgar Allan Poe’s work –and this is not my subjective opinion but knowledgeable people’s consensus –was written by Julio Cortázar. Sometimes, to learn which translations are better you just need to do some research on the internet, read a couple of professional critics’ reviews or find out which publishing house or translator did the translation. Dear readers, you have reached the end of this post. Critics are welcome, especially if they are about my skills as a translator. Thank you for your time and I hope this post was interesting for you!
Long ago, a teacher told me that a translation is a completely new literary work based on an original one. But, what does it mean? Hmm… well, it isn’t easy to explain, and I’m not a teacher, but I’ll try not to confuse you… too much. When a literary work is translated, that is to say, it’s rewritten into another language, it losses part of its essence. This occurrence is not the translators’ fault –sometimes it is –but rather languages’ limitations. By this, I don’t mean there are languages that are better than others; I mean there are words that don’t have an exact translation into other languages. Words that represent a mix of emotions, situations or customs from a specific country. “Cafune” (Brazilian’s Portuguese) for example, is the action of softly threading your fingers through a dear person’s hair, and “Ya’arburnee” (Arabic) is a love’s declaration that means you would die before that person would because you couldn’t live without them. If possible, it’s always better to read a literary work in its original language –I’m sorry Aristotle, I don’t read ancient Greek –but when it’s not, it’s advisable to find the best translation. The best translation is not the one that literally rewrites word for word, but the one that is able to understand or approach the essence of the original work, without caring too much if it changes some words to preserve the spirit of the original when reworking it into another language. Although this kind of translation sounds complex, there are some examples of it: the best Spanish translation of writer Edgar Allan Poe’s work –and this is not my subjective opinion but knowledgeable people’s consensus –was written by Julio Cortázar. Sometimes, to learn which translations are better you just need to do some research on the internet, read a couple of professional critics’ reviews or find out which publishing house or translator did the translation. Dear readers, you have reached the end of this post. Critics are welcome, especially if they are about my skills as a translator. Thank you for your time and I hope this post was interesting for you!