Until late in the 20th century, the standard among publishers was to keep the translator invisible, maintaining the illusion that the translation was the original text. But the translator is never invisible. Translation requires a million choices, and this work happens in the context of the translator's historical moment, education, cultural and political context, and the requirements of the employer who has hired them.
A few examples
"there is no greater enmity in the world than between Germans and Jews." [original Dutch, literal]
'er bestaat geen groter vijandschap op de wereld dan tussen Duitsers en Joden' [original Dutch]
German translation, Anneliese Schütz, 1950
"there is no greater enmity in the world than between these Germans and the Jews." [German, literal] –
'eine grössere Feindschaft als zwischen diesen Deutschen und den Juden gibt es nicht auf der Welt' [German translation]
The Belgian translation theorist, André Lefevere (1945-1996) cited this example as evidence that the ideology of the translator matters. According to Lefevere, Anneliese Schütz, a German and a friend of Otto Frank, introduced both errors and alterations into her translation in an effort to represent Germany more favorably. In this example, Lefevere argues that the addition of the word "these" in the German translation, though small, is ideologically meaningful in mis-representing Anne Frank's point of view in an effort to reflect more favorably on Germans.
"Ginni (mistress of the house or housewife), exhausted in her attempt to feed milk to her grandson, as if feeling relieved seeing Jashoda said, “Mother, coming as my God! Hey, give milk, mother, I touch your feet.” [original Bengali, literal]
গিন্নী নাতিকে দুধ খাওয়াবার চেষ্টায় জেরবার হচ্ছেন ও যশোদাকে দেখে স্বস্তি পেয়ে যেন বললেন, মা আমার ভগবান হইয়া আসছে! এ্যারে দুধ দাও মা, পা ধরি। [original Bengali]
"Mrs Halder was exasperated by the struggle to feed her infant grandson lying on her lap. Seeing Jashoda, she was overcome with relief and exclaimed, "Ma, you are a godsend! Please nurse him a bit, I beg of you."
–Kali for Women Publisher, "The Wet-Nurse" 1986
"The Mistress was out of her mind trying to feed the boy. As if relieved to see Jashoda she said, 'You come like a god! Give her some milk, dear, I beg you."
–Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak "The Breast-Giver" 1997
Why It
Matters:
With choices like "Mrs. Halder" and "godsend," as well as the more familiar rendering of the story's
title, the first translation is more willing to
filter the cultural specifics of the original through a western lens. The second translator, Gayatri
Chakravorty Spivak (b. 1942,
Calcutta), an outspoken translation theorist, is best
known for her belief that translation, especially one done in the West of a text from a less dominant
culture, can, if the translator is not careful, become an act of colonization: "First, then, the
translator must surrender to the text...The translator must be
vigilant about her
own ideological assumptions, recognizing how these can infiltrate the translation process and
potentially appropriate the text for her own ends.”
“Right away, bring fire and sulfur, old woman,
so that I may cleanse the house, driving out destruction.
And summon Penelope, along with the servant women,
and all the slave girls as well.” (original ancient Greek, literal)
πῦρ τε καὶ θεῖον ἔνεικε,
γρηῦ,
ὥς κεν καθάραιμι δόμον, ἀπὸ λοιγὸν ἀλεξῶν.
κάλεσον δὲ Πηνελόπειαν, ἅμ᾽ ἀμφιπόλοισι γυναιξί,
δμῳάς θ᾽ ἁπάσας. (original Ancient Greek)
“Quickly now, bring me fire and sulfur, old dame,
that I may purge the hall,
and call hither Penelope with her women,
and all the maidens that are in the house.”
–1919, A.T. Murray
“Hurry, bring me fire and brimstone, nurse,
to purify this palace top to bottom—
and tell Penelope to come, her women too,
and all the servants in the house.”
–1996, Robert Fagels
"Odysseus told his beloved nurse, "Now bring me fire
and sulfur, as a cure for evil things,
and I will fumigate the house. And call
Penelope, her slaves, and all the slave girls inside the house."
–2017, Emily Wilson
Why It
Matters:
Emily Wilson (b. 1971, Oxford), in her 2017 translation of The Odyssey, used the word "slaves" to
translate δμῳάς, which means, literally, female slaves, but which has traditionally been translated as
"maidens" or "maidservants." Wilson felt it important to surface and attend to the dynamics of power at
play for these women, which previous translators approached more cautiously. "Female translators often
stand at a critical distance when approaching authors who are not only male, but also deeply embedded in
a
canon that has for many centuries been imagined as belonging to men” Emily Wilson
Consider a Translation You've Read
Think about the last translation you read. Could there have been the potential, given its subject, style, or intent, for the translator's biases to affect the text? These effects will often be subtle, but can nonetheless be meaningful. The translator is always part of the translation.
The original text has a historical context, but so does the translator and translation.
Historical events, technologies, and dominant preoccupations can all affect what the translator is likely to notice in a text
A translator's role and purpose might change with the historical moment. Translations done in peacetime have a different sensitivity to certain topics than those done during a war.
Though translators often aspire to give themselves over to the texts, their ideology will still factor in how they read and what they notice
Many texts (the Bible is a notable example) use language that can be interpreted in different ways; a translator's ideology, if they're not careful, will likely dictate their choices when translating
A translator might intentionally alter texts to fit better with the ideology of their readers
A translator's social and cultural context, including their education, their nationality, and their literary context, will affect their reading of foreign texts.
Translators from colonially dominant countries may have preconceptions of literature from the colonies
A cultural context might encourage certain reframing for a domestic audience
Some cultural contexts might limit the translator's ability to access or understand the original language and culture.
Published translations are often subjext to oversight from the publisher or commission requirements.
A translator might be asked to make a text more familiar to the reader, in the hope of selling more books.
A publisher might impose a structure or grouping they think will help readers.
Translation is the most obviously recognizable type of rewriting, and … it is potentially the most influential because it is able to project the image of an author and/or those works beyond the boundaries of their culture of origin
A Real World Exercise
In 1983, Ewald Osers translated The Meaning of Hitler by Sebastian Haffner, described by the publisher (Harvard University Press) as "a remarkable historical and psychological examination of the enigma of Adolf Hitler—who he was, how he wielded power, and why he was destined to fail."
Ewald Osers was born in Prague in May 1917 to a secular Jewish family. From Stepanska gymnasium, he went on to study chemistry at a German University, where he started translating Czech poetry to German and joined a left-wing literary group called Blok. He published his translations and his own verses in the radical quarterly U, until he moved to London in 1938. He would not see his homeland again for 27 years; he met his mother for the last time in spring 1939. At the outbreak of WWII, he joined the BBC Monitoring Service. He was married in 1942 to a classically English woman, Mary Harman. He enjoyed working in different sections of the World Service until his retirement in 1977. He died in 2011 in Reading.
Based on his biography, what might you be on the lookout for while reading Osers's translation of The Meaning of Hitler?
What other questions might you ask about Ewald Osers to be better able to contextualize the translation?
What if there's no Known Translator?
The Bible is a big culprit here. Translating the Bible could be dangerous and was often done by a group. Academic papers are often translated by specialized services and with the help of machine translation. Some publishers still go out of their way to obscure the translator's name.
Even if a specific translator isn't known, the same contextual considerations apply. The year the translation was done will provide context, as well as the intention behind it (scholarly, commercial, artistic).