The Art of the Translator

I started watching 3 Body Problem and realized I wanted to read the books first before getting too far into the show. Very quickly it became clear that while there were many similar plot points they’ve also taken liberties to adapt the story both for the medium of television as well as a Western audience. Overall, I think successfully.

However, while reading the novels, I’ve been reminded of an often overlooked and under-appreciated literary endeavor- the art of the translator. While from an outside point of view it seems fairly straightforward, simply translate the words from the foreign to domestic (in our case English) equivalent. Thinking in terms of a translation dictionary we may pick up when traveling to foreign countries. This will certainly get the direct plot points onto paper, but the art of a novel is much richer than simple plot points. The complexities of nuances and intention, the cultural metaphors, similes and references, the inflections and colloquialisms that rarely have a direct translation. It seems to me that to truly and expertly translate a novel form one language to another you need to both fluid in both languages, but also exceptionally familiar with both cultures. Sometimes the art is finding the local phrase that conveys the same intention but may almost completely have none of the same directly translated words... that requires an artistic license that would seem to necessitate a strong familiarity of the author and the author’s artistic intent, and likely a strong personal connection with the author. 

And for your translation to truly be a masterpiece, there must be almost no sense of translation in the novel… your goal is to trick the reader that this piece was written originally and intentionally for them (again, in our case English). And the translator will likely find themselves in situations where there may be 2 or 3 different ways to translate a sentence… but none of them seem to capture the feel of the original text.

Only in the last few years has the National Book Foundation started offering awards for translated literature, staring back I believe in 2018. About 20 years earlier the American Literary Translators Association started giving out awards, but I only recently learned that association even existed. So now a whole new world of literature and research have opened up to me.

2023 Award Winner for Translations:
Nguyen An Ly’s translation of Chinatown by Thuan, and Bruno Dantas Lovato’s translation of The Words That Remain by Stein Gardel.