Re: Translatory Excess v/s Translatory Loss.
Bapa Rao (brao@tis.com)
Mon, 8 Sep 1997 10:18:48 -0700 (PDT)
>From Jagadish Bisa:
*
* Bapa Rao said:
*
* > Ultimately, I think a good translation into English has to be able
* > to stand on its own as a literary work in English, leaving aside
* > questions of translation loss with respect to the source language.
*
* This brings up an extremely interesting issue. The issue concerning
* translatory excess. Considering a Telugu story that has no culture
* related translatory drawbacks, i.e has no Telugu intrinsics what so
* ever, but results in translatory excess. How should we deal with
* translatory excess?
*
* *Translatory loss: Loss of thematic content due to translation
*
* *Translatory excess: Redundant and unecessary thematic content due
* to translation.
*
* This is an interesting issue because it makes a hell of a difference in
* the quality/sophistication of the end product with and without such
* thematic excess. Aren't we cheating , if we remove the excess, and
* make the translation look far more sophisticated than the original?
* Should we allow the translator to make _that_ sort of decisions at all?
*
* On the other hand, if we keep this thematic excess, the reader (in the
* target language) gets annoyed and may lose interest due to it's lack of
* sophistication.
Like others in this thread, there are no easy answers to this question
either. "Translation" spans a wide range from loose adaptations (more
the norm in Telugu, starting from Viresalingam's Hardy adapatations to
MBS Prasad's Jeeves/Wooster re-creations) all the way to literal
translations (seen more with translation of technical/conceptual material
into Telugu). The "right" answer probably depends on one's taste,
requirements of that particular effort etc. My taste definitely leans
towards readability, so I would much rather "cheat" and opt for a
smoother translated product, though I would take care to cheat no more
than strictly necessary.
My personal views.
Bapa Rao