I have so many thoughts on this subject as it’s very close to my heart. I am a native Hungarian speaker who grew up in Israel so learning languages is my passion. I read in 6 languages. Gabriel Garcia Marquez was the first author I read in Hebrew translation, then in Hungarian and English. I have recently accomplished a dream and finally read him in the original Spanish!! It was hard work but totally worth it. I read in Italian and French regularly. I write predominantly in English, but can’t help sneaking in phrases in other languages (like in this week’s post!). I am very consciously trying to decolonize literature from its English dominance. I love the English language with great passion, but there is so much good literature out there that is not English. Knausgaard’s books were a remarkable success! When I read him I kept wondering how this would read in the original Norwegian. If there is indeed a shift, I welcome it!! We need to open our minds and hearts to other cultures and languages. Elif Shafak is also one of my favourite writers. I wouldn’t be able to read her in Turkish, but I will make the effort to read her in Spanish or French. Reading literature in other languages is no doubt harder for me than reading in English, but it is the BEST way to improve your language skills as well as practicing getting outside your comfort zone! So, I highly recommend it :) (ps. Your post reminded me that I really needed to get on with writing that Dante inspired play in Italian! Thank you! )
You just inspired me to expand my reading to different languages. I always just accepted that I would only read English, but to hear about your effort to read in six languages, I can push myself to do better. Language is so important, and there is something intimate about reading a book in its original tongue. We lose a little something in any translation, and with that a shift in meaning and depth, however slight.
I love that Kern! How wonderful that we inspire each other. I will write about the experience of reading Marquez in greater length, but I'll just say for now that it forced me to do a very close reading, and it blew my mind. Also, I doubt that I would have learned from Duolingo or in a regular Spanish class the Spanish for "well-endowed"... :) Well, now I know, thanks to Gabriel Garcia Marquez!
Dostoyevsky’s portrait stopped me in my tracks (I’m Russian), so I started reading your essay — so much food for thought! I love reading Checkov (another great Russian classic) translated into English, don’t know what it says about me 🫢
In Chekhov instance, my primary motivation was to see how his works land in English translations from the perspective of form and culture, seeing that he’s considered a master of the short story
For the writer, I think it is not useful to focus and fixate on market size and best sellers.
How will that data actually help you increase your readership ?, it is survivorship bias when you choose to evaluate the "winner" only and not the masses that do not make the cut - not many translated works are best sellers.
Translating is hard, can you imagine trying to write in English equivalent the many words Eskimos supposedly have for snow ?
Or Han Kang, the recent Nobel Laureate, her book: Greek Lessons, trying to translate the intricacies for a Korean protagonist learning Ancient Greek ?
It was interesting to read a New Yorker article about Haruki Murakami wanting to publish his short stories. The editors had strict guidelines, I suppose to remove cultural obscurities for Anglophone sensibilities. Was the work watered down for Anglo readers ?
Then you get the reverse, like Jhumpa Lahiri writes in Italian two novels.
Or a Chinese academic writing a book about Plato to become a best seller
So do these works influence culture without translation ? hardly, or it might become a fad like
Japanese minimalism for a while until a photo book emerges that says there is joy in selected clutter
The best you can do is immerse your self in the culture and arts and not worry about English translations. Broaden the cultural outlook by actively learning not just reading.
What would an Anglo readers make of this: Cretan Mantinades; 15 syllable Rhythmic couplets sung to a dance form ? that captures the essence of Cretan village life and emotions ?
In Canada, we've had to deal with this for a while because the language gap between English and French speakers can make Quebec-based French writing authors inaccessible without translation. Fortunately, there are many people versed in both languages (the talented Sheila Fischman being the most prominent) who have bridged the gap with wonderful English language translations of Quebec literature.
This has, as a result, led to many works from Quebec or other French-speaking communities in Canada being nominated for and winning national literature prizes, which would have been harder for them to do without translations.
I have so many thoughts on this subject as it’s very close to my heart. I am a native Hungarian speaker who grew up in Israel so learning languages is my passion. I read in 6 languages. Gabriel Garcia Marquez was the first author I read in Hebrew translation, then in Hungarian and English. I have recently accomplished a dream and finally read him in the original Spanish!! It was hard work but totally worth it. I read in Italian and French regularly. I write predominantly in English, but can’t help sneaking in phrases in other languages (like in this week’s post!). I am very consciously trying to decolonize literature from its English dominance. I love the English language with great passion, but there is so much good literature out there that is not English. Knausgaard’s books were a remarkable success! When I read him I kept wondering how this would read in the original Norwegian. If there is indeed a shift, I welcome it!! We need to open our minds and hearts to other cultures and languages. Elif Shafak is also one of my favourite writers. I wouldn’t be able to read her in Turkish, but I will make the effort to read her in Spanish or French. Reading literature in other languages is no doubt harder for me than reading in English, but it is the BEST way to improve your language skills as well as practicing getting outside your comfort zone! So, I highly recommend it :) (ps. Your post reminded me that I really needed to get on with writing that Dante inspired play in Italian! Thank you! )
You just inspired me to expand my reading to different languages. I always just accepted that I would only read English, but to hear about your effort to read in six languages, I can push myself to do better. Language is so important, and there is something intimate about reading a book in its original tongue. We lose a little something in any translation, and with that a shift in meaning and depth, however slight.
I love that Kern! How wonderful that we inspire each other. I will write about the experience of reading Marquez in greater length, but I'll just say for now that it forced me to do a very close reading, and it blew my mind. Also, I doubt that I would have learned from Duolingo or in a regular Spanish class the Spanish for "well-endowed"... :) Well, now I know, thanks to Gabriel Garcia Marquez!
Dostoyevsky’s portrait stopped me in my tracks (I’m Russian), so I started reading your essay — so much food for thought! I love reading Checkov (another great Russian classic) translated into English, don’t know what it says about me 🫢
Hey, I'm reading all the translations, also, so we're in the same boat.
In Chekhov instance, my primary motivation was to see how his works land in English translations from the perspective of form and culture, seeing that he’s considered a master of the short story
Oh I really enjoyed this piece!
So glad you did!
For the writer, I think it is not useful to focus and fixate on market size and best sellers.
How will that data actually help you increase your readership ?, it is survivorship bias when you choose to evaluate the "winner" only and not the masses that do not make the cut - not many translated works are best sellers.
Translating is hard, can you imagine trying to write in English equivalent the many words Eskimos supposedly have for snow ?
Or Han Kang, the recent Nobel Laureate, her book: Greek Lessons, trying to translate the intricacies for a Korean protagonist learning Ancient Greek ?
It was interesting to read a New Yorker article about Haruki Murakami wanting to publish his short stories. The editors had strict guidelines, I suppose to remove cultural obscurities for Anglophone sensibilities. Was the work watered down for Anglo readers ?
Then you get the reverse, like Jhumpa Lahiri writes in Italian two novels.
Or a Chinese academic writing a book about Plato to become a best seller
So do these works influence culture without translation ? hardly, or it might become a fad like
Japanese minimalism for a while until a photo book emerges that says there is joy in selected clutter
The best you can do is immerse your self in the culture and arts and not worry about English translations. Broaden the cultural outlook by actively learning not just reading.
What would an Anglo readers make of this: Cretan Mantinades; 15 syllable Rhythmic couplets sung to a dance form ? that captures the essence of Cretan village life and emotions ?
https://youtu.be/q4ae1KITpHU
Lost in translation ?
Actively learning is a great way to put it, Nocholas. That's how we can broaden our tastes and ultimately our preferences.
In Canada, we've had to deal with this for a while because the language gap between English and French speakers can make Quebec-based French writing authors inaccessible without translation. Fortunately, there are many people versed in both languages (the talented Sheila Fischman being the most prominent) who have bridged the gap with wonderful English language translations of Quebec literature.
This has, as a result, led to many works from Quebec or other French-speaking communities in Canada being nominated for and winning national literature prizes, which would have been harder for them to do without translations.
Or maybe even impossible without those translations. Odd because French is one of the most spoken languages around the world.