Translation Goals

[Queshire]

Lately in certain corners of the internet the topic of translating fictional works has become, shall we say, controversial. I'll spare you the details, but I'm wondering... As writers what would desire or seek to prioritize if you were to have your work translated into another language? Say, Japanese or Chinese?

Would you prefer a strict one-to-one translation? Would you be okay with certain changes to help improve the flow & tempo in the new language? How would you want word play to be handled when it's based off of the language the story is originally written in? If a story cultural aspects that exist where you live as a large part of the story, but those cultural aspects might not be applicable in the language it's being translated to would you rather keep them in or try to find local equivalents in order to keep the themes accessible to foreign readers? Any other thoughts on the topic?

 

[Mad Swede]

OK, writing this as someone whose books have been translated into another language.

To produce a readable book what you need is an interpretation, not a one-to-one translation. That's because you have to deal with things like word play and cultural references (which may be explicit or implicit) in order to make the book accessible to readers in other countries. A good interpretation will have very similar flow and pace to the original, but it will not be identical. Producing a good interpretation is not as easy as it seems, and in my view we as authors need to be closely involved in the translation/interpretation of our works so that our themes and ideas don't get lost.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Though I don't have any books being translated into other languages, I agree with Mad Swede. A good translation for entertainment purposes is an interpretation as much as it is a translation. A one-on-one translation is only really something you'd want to use in a more academic setting, like when you're translating an old roman text to get an idea of what the author actually said and how he said it.

Now, the translation should stay close to the original. Yes, things like word plays, jokes, and cultural references should be somewhat adapted. But the overal idea of the text should remain the same. The translator shouldn't change the meaning / intent of the text. Stray too far, and it becomes a new work loosly based on the original.

I have probably missed something though. What controversies are there around translations? (other than perhaps AI translations I guess...).

 

[Karlin]

I've translated a book. Popular archaeology, from Hebrew to English. I don't know what "a strict one-to-one translation" even means. The translation needs to be comfortably readable. Which means, well , interpretation, as others have said.

You mentioned Chinese. Chinese uses a huge set of fixed expressions, 'Chengyu'. (note that I do not know Chinese, only about it). I suspect that a good translation into Chinese would mean using many such expressions, and a translation from Chinese would have to avoid using literal translations of those expressions. Would 'melon field, beneath the plums' mean anything to a reader? 'a frog in the bottom of the well'? 'Three men make a tiger'?

Or take a look at the Bible and its translations. I read the Old Testament in the original, and I can make errors in understanding because of the differences between modern and biblical Hebrew. Translations into other languages? Look how many there are...

 

[Queshire]

I have probably missed something though. What controversies are there around translations? (other than perhaps AI translations I guess...).

In my experience there have been some people who have had rather... ahem, heated reactions to what they perceive as any changes made to a story over the course of translation, though it's something I've generally only seen within the general vicinity of anime/manga, video games and other such niche topics.

The most recent example is from the indie video game Yunyun Syndrome

Spoiler: Game trailer

Which, I am given to understand, utilizes rhythm game gameplay and somewhat cutesy graphics as a way to explore some of the more... unhinged? internet culture in something of a satirical way. The English translation of the game was noticed to have some clear departures from both the original Japanese version and versions that were translated into languages aside from English. I have seen people describe the English version of the game as vandalizing or butchering the story.

In response to this reaction the creator of the game put out a patch to undo some of the changes made, however in a message posted along with said patch the creator of the game said they worked closely with the localizers which to me suggests that the original translations were greenlit by the creator even with the changes and it's only in response to the backlash that they were reverted, but it is what it is.

Speaking from personal experience, I have also run into people that have been, shall I say... very vocally concerned (and I am being polite in my choice of words here) about some of the translation choices that are being made in an officially licensed release of a property that before this only had an unofficial (if impressively vast) fan translated version in English. This includes such things changing the class "Grappler" to "Martial Artist" or changing "True Speech Magic" to "Sorcery."

There was one somewhat notable example where a localizer changed some aspects of a show to suit their personal beliefs (though I don't think that episode ever actually went to air,) but, and I am fully admitting to my biases here, it has resulted in an excessive amount of hatred aimed at any localizers perceived as trying to make something "woke" when they translate it.