The Value of Differences: Jennifer Lindsay on Noticing Translation
The article highlights the International Booker Prize's role in increasing visibility for translators while arguing that the nuances of translation and the translator's artistry are often overlooked in literary discussions.
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The article discusses the evolving recognition of literary translators, particularly in the context of the International Booker Prize (IBP). While the IBP has increased visibility for translators and their work, the author, Jennifer Lindsay, argues that the appreciation for the art of translation itself remains limited. The prize, which awards both the author and translator, has been a positive development, yet it primarily focuses on recent works, often sidelining the nuances of translation. Lindsay highlights that while translators are gaining recognition, the process and artistry of translation are frequently overlooked in discussions surrounding the prize. She emphasizes the need for a deeper understanding of how translations shape literature and the importance of acknowledging the original text's influence on the translated work. The article calls for more insightful commentary on translation in prize assessments and reviews, advocating for a more nuanced appreciation of the translator's role in bringing foreign literature to English-speaking audiences. Ultimately, Lindsay seeks a balance between celebrating translated works and recognizing the unique challenges and artistry involved in the translation process.
- The International Booker Prize has increased visibility for translators but often overlooks the nuances of translation.
- The prize primarily focuses on recent works, which may limit the appreciation of older or re-translated literature.
- There is a need for more insightful commentary on the translation process in prize assessments and literary reviews.
- The article advocates for a deeper understanding of how translations shape literature and the importance of the original text.
- Recognition of the translator's artistry is essential for a balanced appreciation of translated works.
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5 comments> Perhaps there is a larger prejudice here against scrutiny of translation as overly academic, an exercise in smug pedantry hampering creative freedom
Yes. And while the discussion is about literary work, I think this is an extension of the stance people have toward translation in general.
We see that with product designers demoing AI translation as "transparent", and something that allows users to not have to care about the language barriers anymore.
While being able to roughly understand foreign contents is better than nothing, too many people IMHO are assuming that auto-translation is good enough. It seldom is, and will probably never be if we care even a little about what people are really trying to say. You can survive with translation, but the bare minimum shouldn't be the end goal, or at it we should keep in mind the missing parts.
[0] https://acculing.com/difference-between-translation-and-adap...
I recently added French for some of our pages as we were getting some inbound from France. You still need to be careful but mostly it does the job. And I get a kick out of seeing my writing translated into what looks (to me) pretty elegant French. I have some dormant memories of high school French. Enough to appreciate it. I generally just use OpenAI's o4 model currently. I might experiment with 4.5 to see if it does a better/different job. I generally just paste markdown and let it translate the whole thing with the instruction to preserve the structure. Works well enough.
I'm guessing there are going to be a lot of AI assisted book translations in the near future. I appreciate that they might not be amazing but they are probably getting good enough. And increased context sizes and improved instruction following should also make it easier for translators to stay on top of and direct/oversee the quality; e.g. fine-tuning certain wording and stylistic touches.
Probably a bigger factor here is original authors gate-keeping quality here. They wouldn't necessarily want a low quality translation misrepresenting their work. However, I would expect that especially authors targeting relatively minor languages might have an incentive to self-publish their work in other languages targeting larger audiences (English, Spanish, etc.) and that a few successes with this might make them more confident. If you did the hard work writing the book and it's moderately successful, why not increase the potential audience by 10-20x? Of course publishers might pick up on this faster than starving authors.
And the standards for self publishing on e.g. Amazon are pretty low. Probably a lot of AI generated garbage there to begin with.
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