Posted By: Fame
Translated Art - 11/03/10 12:34 AM
Cafeteria, about a month ago.
Fame: "So what are you reading now?"
Marc(french pal): "Oh you'll love it, Fame. The Godfather."
Fame: "Nice! but wait a minute...English or French?"
Marc: "French"
Fame: "Well you're not reading The Godfather"
Marc: "Yes I do! "Le Parrain"! Mario Puzo, I have the book right here!"
Fame: "You do have a book. But not the one I've read"
----
Call me extremist. But I cannot accept translated art to be the same creation as the original. Especially with a novel like The Godfather, which is not only fiction, but a novel which stands out for its memorable dialogue. The very same classy dialogue which makes it into the movies. You have to read it in English in order to absorb Puzo's creation in the right manner. Any other language will alter this novel; translation in this case means distortion, no less. Again, call me extremist, but I always approach translated art with discomfort. Can it really be translated?
Des mots oui des mots comme le Nouveau Monde
Des mots venus de l'autre côté clé la rive
Des mots tranquilles comme mon chien qui dort
Des mots chargés des lèvres constellées dans le dictionnaire des
constellations de mots
I'm not saying one should not approach translated art. I have read one too many translated novels myself (mostly french and russian literature) -- what I do ask here: should I really go around saying I've read these novels? do you honestly think that my reading of Tolstoy in English could be compared to that of my russian friends? far, far from it. What I read is DIFFERENT than what Tolstoy wrote. It's different, because language is not just the tool with which the info is transferred. Language in itself is essential piece of the art, essential piece of the information we recieve. Especially in fiction, where so much depends on the social and cultural aspects and manners driven from the author's language.
Et c'est le Bonnet Noir que nous mettrons sur le vocabulaire
Nous ferons un séminaire, particulier avec des grammairiens
particuliers aussi
Et chargés de mettre des perruques aux vieilles pouffiasses
Littéromanes
Surely, no man could learn all languages. If we have to choose between reading translation and not reading at all, then I suppose anything is better than none. Assuming all of you reading this thread right now should have no problem reading any book in English, my question is: should you invest your reading time in English fiction only (you'll die even before reading one tenth of all that's available), or should you spice it up with translated material?
I think I know the answer. It feels like we're cheating ourselves, yet we have no choice. We are consumers of art. At all costs. We'll strip it off its wholeness while pretending the language is no more than the feeding spoon. And while non-english films or TV shows may enter our lives with the help of subtitles, the situation is very different with literature, where visuals are absent, and the emphasis on language is so much bigger.
TV and the movie industry in France and some other European countries is worrying. They abandon subtitles for the sake of dubbing. Dubbing in those countries is ENROMOUS, it is an industry in itself, and I ask myself why? can't the french read subtitles? is it really more fun to watch an american film with french dialogue, not matching the lips of the actors on screen? why should they mess around with any artistic creation and cripple it, when it really isn't necessary? subtitles are not only easier than dubbing, but they also present the best translation: side-by-side its original language.
Classical music is international, in the purest sense of the word. It has no boundaries. No matter the continent you're in, it's a language you'll understand, one you know since the day you were born.
Books, movies, music, are all examples of art. There are more areas in life to explore (feel free to do so), but going to back to my original comment about The Godfather novel -- I'd like to make it clear that my discomfort mainly refers to fiction. Non-fiction feels much easier. Reading a translated cooking book might prove the same in a different language, but that too depends on the author and book.
Go on and explore the world. Educate yourself. Entertain yourself. But know your place. Never underestimate language. It is the spoon. But also part of the food.
NOUS SOMMES DES CHIENS et les chiens, quand ils sentent la
compagnie,
Ils se dérangent et on leur fout la paix
Nous voulons la Paix des Chiens
Nous sommes des chiens de " bonne volonté "
We're international dogs. We're intercultural dogs. We smell the company of greatness overseas and we charge its existence, destroying its purity for the sake of our own satisfaction.
Are we really smarter, or just pretending to be?
Thanx for reading.
French quotes used in this thread are taken from Léo Ferré's "Le Chien". Stripped out of their political context and abused in my own silly argument. Quite a paradox, considering the notion of this thread.
But hey, I wouldn't have it any other way
Fame: "So what are you reading now?"
Marc(french pal): "Oh you'll love it, Fame. The Godfather."
Fame: "Nice! but wait a minute...English or French?"
Marc: "French"
Fame: "Well you're not reading The Godfather"
Marc: "Yes I do! "Le Parrain"! Mario Puzo, I have the book right here!"
Fame: "You do have a book. But not the one I've read"
----
Call me extremist. But I cannot accept translated art to be the same creation as the original. Especially with a novel like The Godfather, which is not only fiction, but a novel which stands out for its memorable dialogue. The very same classy dialogue which makes it into the movies. You have to read it in English in order to absorb Puzo's creation in the right manner. Any other language will alter this novel; translation in this case means distortion, no less. Again, call me extremist, but I always approach translated art with discomfort. Can it really be translated?
Des mots oui des mots comme le Nouveau Monde
Des mots venus de l'autre côté clé la rive
Des mots tranquilles comme mon chien qui dort
Des mots chargés des lèvres constellées dans le dictionnaire des
constellations de mots
I'm not saying one should not approach translated art. I have read one too many translated novels myself (mostly french and russian literature) -- what I do ask here: should I really go around saying I've read these novels? do you honestly think that my reading of Tolstoy in English could be compared to that of my russian friends? far, far from it. What I read is DIFFERENT than what Tolstoy wrote. It's different, because language is not just the tool with which the info is transferred. Language in itself is essential piece of the art, essential piece of the information we recieve. Especially in fiction, where so much depends on the social and cultural aspects and manners driven from the author's language.
Et c'est le Bonnet Noir que nous mettrons sur le vocabulaire
Nous ferons un séminaire, particulier avec des grammairiens
particuliers aussi
Et chargés de mettre des perruques aux vieilles pouffiasses
Littéromanes
Surely, no man could learn all languages. If we have to choose between reading translation and not reading at all, then I suppose anything is better than none. Assuming all of you reading this thread right now should have no problem reading any book in English, my question is: should you invest your reading time in English fiction only (you'll die even before reading one tenth of all that's available), or should you spice it up with translated material?
I think I know the answer. It feels like we're cheating ourselves, yet we have no choice. We are consumers of art. At all costs. We'll strip it off its wholeness while pretending the language is no more than the feeding spoon. And while non-english films or TV shows may enter our lives with the help of subtitles, the situation is very different with literature, where visuals are absent, and the emphasis on language is so much bigger.
TV and the movie industry in France and some other European countries is worrying. They abandon subtitles for the sake of dubbing. Dubbing in those countries is ENROMOUS, it is an industry in itself, and I ask myself why? can't the french read subtitles? is it really more fun to watch an american film with french dialogue, not matching the lips of the actors on screen? why should they mess around with any artistic creation and cripple it, when it really isn't necessary? subtitles are not only easier than dubbing, but they also present the best translation: side-by-side its original language.
Classical music is international, in the purest sense of the word. It has no boundaries. No matter the continent you're in, it's a language you'll understand, one you know since the day you were born.
Books, movies, music, are all examples of art. There are more areas in life to explore (feel free to do so), but going to back to my original comment about The Godfather novel -- I'd like to make it clear that my discomfort mainly refers to fiction. Non-fiction feels much easier. Reading a translated cooking book might prove the same in a different language, but that too depends on the author and book.
Go on and explore the world. Educate yourself. Entertain yourself. But know your place. Never underestimate language. It is the spoon. But also part of the food.
NOUS SOMMES DES CHIENS et les chiens, quand ils sentent la
compagnie,
Ils se dérangent et on leur fout la paix
Nous voulons la Paix des Chiens
Nous sommes des chiens de " bonne volonté "
We're international dogs. We're intercultural dogs. We smell the company of greatness overseas and we charge its existence, destroying its purity for the sake of our own satisfaction.
Are we really smarter, or just pretending to be?
Thanx for reading.
French quotes used in this thread are taken from Léo Ferré's "Le Chien". Stripped out of their political context and abused in my own silly argument. Quite a paradox, considering the notion of this thread.
But hey, I wouldn't have it any other way