by Sabnam Ghosh

I understand when I read, but I think when I write. I’ve always understood the differences between reading and writing this way. The process of understanding that one employs while reading transfers into an unconscious processing of judgements and selections that is reflected in the process of writing. One wonders, then, about the place of translation in such writing scenarios. Is ‘translation’ only about a steady trial and error method of selecting one word for the other? Is it just about juggling two different languages to arrive at the same meaning? Is the purpose limited to only communication? Or can one understand the process as a mode of free writing, where recreation is a game that sets its own end goals? This post is a deliberation of the ways in which the processes employed in translation can be gainfully employed to learn writing in an efficient manner.

By stating that translation recreates, I am not stating anything novel. Walter Benjamin writes in his famous essay, “The Task of the Translator,” that translation is not limited to mimicry. According to Benjamin, a translator recreates a text, just as an independent author would. An affirmation of this claim is found in Andre Lefevere’s concept of the “refracted text,” which roughly means that a text is adopted for a different audience with the intention of influencing the way in which the text is read by the audience. Lefevere compares the translations of Anne Frank’s Diary in over seventy different languages, claiming that Otto Frank’s translation of the diary in German was done with the intentions of making it more youth-oriented and to eliminate all ‘sexual’ language used to express Anna’s exploring herself. By analyzing all these translations, Lefevere identifies a conscious trend among translators to translate the text into the culture, not just in the language. Translators replace words and expressions (proverbs and idioms) with more culturally appropriate terms.

One can observe these trends in the translations of movie subtitles, where subtitles are often written into a more culturally receptive context, rather than a literal translation from the original language. An expression such as ‘A Moron’ (in Bengali), translates into ‘Oh Death,’ losing inherently the linguistic alliteration, cultural and colloquial meanings, and assumes a poetic sensibility which translates into a romanticism for death. Similarly, the proverb “wish I were a fly on the wall,” loses its sensibility and connection when translated from English to Bengali. In fact, one would find it incredibly belittling to be compared to a fly out of context and annoying to be subject to a fly reference in the middle of a serious or interesting conversation. In this sense, to borrow Lefevere’s words, “reality is packaged for us,” and the shift from one language to others exposes the aspect of packaging.

The loss of meaning that one encounters with translation is an effort to understand translation as a more fluid project that is subject to the vagaries of thought, effort, context, culture, and place. Just as one thinks when one writes, often to render writing with beauty and meaning, one also adheres to the same norms when one translates. Writing and translation are thus inseparable. The skill of selecting words and thoughts to convey meaning effectively is the common domain of both translation and writing.

In a discipline like Comparative Literature, one inherently learns and thrives in translation. Owing to common limitations in linguistic skills, students usually read world literatures in translation, often in carefully excerpted and translated formats. Bad translations, as well the untranslatability of idioms and proverbs, affect the experience of texts for most students. The culture, politics, and ideological negotiations inherent in translations can provide an interesting way for students to hone their writing skills.

So how can the skills and nuances of translating be applied to the process of learning through writing? For one, reading a text in a foreign language leads one to be more careful and meticulous in her understanding of the text. In extension, translating a text from a foreign language to the language of one’s expertise brings in added deliberations on the cultural aspects of translations. A student understands a text in a second language through the lens of their first language. They deliberate on their choice of words for translation as well as the choice of words for complimentary expressions or idioms or phrases. These linguistic aspects of rewriting add to the student’s understanding of the cultural codes, ideology, and politics of both the source and the target language. Bringing in the aspect of recreation as expounded previously, the translated text is no longer a replica or literal translation of the original, but a rewritten text that communicates the message of the source text but through a renewed understanding of the context and process of language. In terms of this explication, translation through its process can be a very useful tool to hone and make the process of writing more culturally and linguistically conscious and critical.

Sabnam Ghosh is a third year PhD student in Comparative Literature. She received her masters from the University of Edinburgh, U.K and undergrads from Jadavpur, India. In addition to the obvious hobby of reading anything and everything, she also teaches various courses at the department, and cooks, embroiders, runs, has intellectually stimulating debates, whenever possible.