Translated Literature

Your task is to write a response that evaluates the study of literature in translation. Your response should demonstrate an awareness of specific benefits and challenges through references to today’s readings, as well as making tangible connections to the learning outcome from Part 3 of the course.

When literature is translated from one language to another, historical, cultural and social contexts are significant aspects not only for the translator but also as a reader. An example of a translated literature is the novel The Thief and the Dogs, written by the Egyptian writer and Nobel Prize winner Naguib Mahfouz. Initially, the novel was published in Arabic and translated for non-Arab speakers in English. Such translation not only illuminates the importance of translated literature but also the many challenges that come with it.

 A pivotal benefit of translated literature is that it allows readers to gain insights into different perspectives, experiences, social and cultural values. As mentioned in the article “Found in Translation”, translated literature provides an insight in “the ways that people think and work and suffer and fall in love and make enemies and sometimes make revolutions”. Often public television, documentaries or archaeological discoveries fail to divert our focus on such human experiences and emotions. As a result, translated literature gives us a new curiosity and understanding to questions we did not know we wanted to ask. Another substantial benefit that comes with translated literature is that it encourages readers to develop an open-minded and international awareness of other cultural and religious values. Instead of focusing on literature written in their mother language and native culture, readers are now exposed to novel experiences which could not be shared if the literature were not to be translated.

While there many benefits that come with translated literature, it also equips challenges which are significant to consider when reading and analyzing novels such as The Thief and the Dogs. As Amara Lakhous stated: “translation is a journey over a sea from one shore to the other. Sometimes I think of myself as a smuggler. I cross the frontier of language with my booty of words, ideas, images and metaphors.” In other words, this allusion illustrates that, like smuggling, translation has a risk involved when done incorrectly. In the article, “What Makes a Good Literary Translator” is it evident that one of these risks is the impossibility to translate literature directly. Instead, translators attempt to recreate the essence and mood of the text to maintain its intention, authenticity and attitude. If a translator fails to capture this essence, the limits of expression cause a loss of purity. Subsequently, criticism may arise, as seen in the recent controversy of author Feng Tang translation of Tagore’s ‘Stray Birds’ poem. Such challenges lead to a misinterpretation of mood, style and emotion by the reader in which the original intent of the author is lost.