The Translator Quotes

In some sense the text and the translator are locked in struggle - 'I attacked that sentence, it resisted me, I attacked another, it eluded me' - a struggle in which, curiously, when the translator wins, the text wins too ... ~ Lydia Davis

To have the translator be a figure in the book's presentation seems like a big thing, especially for a book that's really popular. ~ Ann Goldstein

The existence of another, competing translation is a good thing, in general, and only immediately discouraging to one person - the translator who, after one, two, or three years of more or less careful work, sees another, and perhaps superior, version appear as if overnight. ~ Lydia Davis

The choices that bedevil the writer bedevil the translator ten times over. ~ Margaret Atwood

It is the task of the translator to release in his own language that pure language that is under the spell of another, to liberate the language imprisoned in a work in his re-creation of that work. ~ Walter Benjamin

The translator ... Peculiar outcast, ghost in the world of literature, recreating in another form something already created, creating and not creating, writing words that are his own and not his own, writing a work not original to him, composing with utmost pains and without recognition of his pains or the fact that the composition really is his own. ~ Lydia Davis

I've learned, from working with translators over the years, that the original novel is, in a way, a translation itself. It is not, of course, translated into another language but it is a translation from the images in the author's mind to that which he is able to put down on paper. Here's a secret. Many novelists, if they are pressed and if they are being honest, will admit that the finished book is a rather rough translation of the book they'd intended to write. It's one of the heartbreaks of writing fiction. You have, for months or years, been walking around with the idea of a novel in your mind, and in your mind it's transcendent, it's brilliantly comic and howlingly tragic, it contains everything you know, and everything you can imagine, about human life on the planet earth. It is vast and mysterious and awe-inspiring. It is a cathedral made of fire. But even if the book in question turns out fairly well, it's never the book that you'd hoped to write. It's smaller than the book you'd hoped to write. It is an object, a collection of sentences, and it does not remotely resemble a cathedral made of fire. It feels, in short, like a rather inept translation of a mythical great work. The translator, then, is simply moving the book another step along the translation continuum. The translator is translating a translation. ~ Michael Cunningham

However, there is one great temptation and that is that you can forget that the aim of the writer was to reject all other worlds and to construct one of his own and that the aim of the translator is to re-embody himself into the world of the various writers. ~ Ventseslav Konstantinov

Reading a poem in translation," wrote Bialek, "is like kissing a woman through a veil"; and reading Greek poems, with a mixture of katharevousa and the demotic, is like kissing two women. Translation is a kind of transubstantiation; one poem becomes another. You choose your philosophy of translation just as you choose how to live: the free adaptation that sacrifices detail to meaning, the strict crib that sacrifices meaning to exactitude. The poet moves from life to language, the translator moves from language to life; both like the immigrant, try to identify the invisible, what's between the lines, the mysterious implications. ~ Anne Michaels

The translator, we should know, is a writer too. As a matter of fact, he could be called the ideal writer because all he has to do is write; plot, theme, characters, and all other essentials have already been provided, so he can just sit down and write his ass off. (p. 8) ~ Gregory Rabassa

The translator, a lonely sort of acrobat, becomes confused in a labyrinth of paradox, or climbs a pyramid of dependent clauses and has to invent a way down from it in his own language. ~ Lydia Davis

Translation means that a translator has picked one word above all the others: one winner, with all the finalists gone from the page forever. Translation always calls upon the translator to make a judgement call, and what the reader hears, then, is a judgement ~ Aviya Kushner

Now it's the age for the translator. It's the age for the bridge builder. It's the age for Velcro. It's the age for Lego. It's the age for combining what we already have into what we need. ~ Van Jones

These are crystalline - oftentimes incandescent - translations of Juarroz's powerful metaphysical poems where eternity and silence jut up against a world where "writing infects the landscape" and there are "more letters than leaves" - The kind of match one hopes for where both the translator and the poet are in luck; new poems which don't leak and yet old poems in which the original passion shines. ~ Jorie Graham

In a sense Muhammad was less the messenger than the translator, struggling to give human form -- words -- to the ineffable. ~ Lesley Hazleton

«"We're talking about the technical aspects of translation again. Do I have to do all the work here? Who can tell me one of the problems translators face?" Rashmi raises her hand. "Well, most words have different meanings." "Good," Professeur Cole says. "More. Elaborate." St. Clair sits next to Rashmi, but he's not listening. He scribbles something fiercely in the margins of his book. "Well," Rashmi says. "It's the translator's job to determine which definition the author means. And not only that, but there could be other meanings in relation to the context."55 "So what you're saying," Professeur Cole says, "is that the translator has a lot of decisions to make. That there are multiple meanings to be found in any word, in any sentence. In any situation." "Exactly," Rashmi says. And then she cuts her eyes at me.» ~ Stephanie Perkins

To me a translator is very, very important. If the fixer is also the translator, so much the better. I have known photographers who didn't speak the language and would work in a place for weeks without one, getting by on common sense and smiles. But how many situations did they miss because they couldn't talk to someone and get the back story on details, small daily life things, etc. ~ Peter Menzel

A poet is the translator of the silent language of nature to the world. ~ Rufus Wilmot Griswold

Intrinsic to the concept of a translator's fidelity to the effect and impact of the original is making the second version of the work as close to the first writer's intention as possible. A good translator's devotion to that goal is unwavering. But what never should be forgotten or overlooked is the obvious fact that what we read in a translation is the translator's writing. The inspiration is the original work, certainly, and thoughtful literary translators approach that work with great deference and respect, but the execution of the book in another language is the task of the translator, and that work should be judged and evaluated on its own terms. Still, most reviewers do not acknowledge the fact of translation except in the most perfunctory way, and a significant majority seem incapable of shedding light on the value of the translation or on how it reflects or illuminates the original. ~ Edith Grossman

The translator constantly learns new things about himself. ~ Ventseslav Konstantinov

which had previously provided the translator safe haven. Pretending ~ Thomas Cahill

All nonfiction writers, whether they like it or not, are translators. The translator is the perfect journalist. The best journalism endeavors to convey an essential idea or story to an audience that knows very little about it, and that requires translation. To do this successfully, the writer must filter the idea through the prism of his eye, and his mind, and his writing style. ~ Ilan Stavans

She was pretty, possibly not the prettiest woman in the audience, but pretty in a very particular, indefinable way that couldn't be put into words, like a line of poetry whose ultimate meaning, if such a thing exists in a line of poetry, continually escapes the translator. ~ Jose Saramago

Chance of source language influencing the target language and that of the translator intervening onto the style of original writer are major challenges in literary translation. ~ Suman Pokhrel

It is only logical for the translator to become a part of the world of the author. ~ Ventseslav Konstantinov

So what you're saying [...] is that the translator has a lot of decisions to make. That there are multiple meanings to be found in any word, in any sentence. In any situation. ~ Stephanie Perkins

These are not my people." The neutrality of the vocalizer makes his words more poignant for their lack of vehemence. "This is my race, but these are not my people." I don't know what to say to that, but he goes on, so I don't need to deal with my inadequacy. "I left here because I did not fit. I traveled, but never did I ... " He pauses, as the translator seeks a word - or perhaps he is thinking. "Belong. In more turns than you can imagine, the closest I have ever come to a home is with you, Sirantha. ~ Ann Aguirre

Without translation, I would be limited to the borders of my own country. The translator is my most important ally. He introduces me to the world. ~ Italo Calvino

One of my favorite poets, Neruda, writes close to the bone. Though I know only a little Spanish, I like to compare the Spanish and English lines and see how the translator worked. ~ Anita Diament

What is more important for the world right now than preserving ways of living in balance with the earth? ~ Daoud Hari

I traveled the world ten times over doing something I never thought I'd do in a million years. I found myself in Tokyo, Japan. I (was in) a Dell Computer commercial, the first thing I had ever done, and I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the green screens, I fell in love with (everything). The translator was explaining everything to me. It was a passion like I had never felt before. I came back and it took me five years to really accept that that was okay. ~ Drew Waters

( ... ) the translator of prose is the slave of the author and the translator of poetry is his rival. ~ Andrei Makine

I have always maintained that translation is essentially the closest reading one can possibly give a text. The translator cannot ignore "lesser" words, but must consider every jot and tittle. ~ Gregory Rabassa

As the writer, you can choose the word that seems best in terms of meaning, nuance, sound, etc. As the translator you are unlikely to find a word in your language that exactly matches, so that you are always making a decision about which meaning or nuance to choose, or emphasize, over the others. ~ Ann Goldstein

It was an epiphany when I realized you don't have to call yourself a linguist, a translator, a poet. You can call yourself an artist and you can do all these things. ~ Jan Peacock

What are we playing for? This needs to be worth my while."
"Honour?" Steve suggested. "Let me know if your universal translator got that one. I know it may be a tough concept for your species. ~ David Liss

A satisfactory translation is not always possible, but a good translator is never satisfied with it. It can usually be improved. (Newmark) ~ Peter Newmark

A translator is essentially a reader and we all read differently, except that a translator's reading remains in unchanging print ~ Gregory Rabassa

Even a poor translator couldn't kill a style that moves with such narrative clarity. ~ William Zinsser

A translator must, of course, be an interpreter of cultures. ~ Philip Zaleski

As a true translator you will take care not to translate word for word. ~ Horace

A translator is to be like his author; it is not his business to excel him. ~ Samuel Johnson

Overly literal translations, far from being faithful, actually distort meaning by obscuring sense. ~ Ken Liu

Boys! Are they always this impossible? Do they always say cryptic, indecipherable things? (Note
to self: work with Liz to adapt her boy-to-English translator into a more mobile form - like maybe a
watch or necklace.) ~ Ally Carter

This is my gift to you, this story that is also a song, these words that are a part of Fokir. Such flaws as there are in my rendition of it I do not regret, for perhaps they will prevent me from fading from sight, as a good translator should. For once, I shall be glad if my imperfections render me visible. ~ Amitav Ghosh

Not everyone who knows how to write can be a writer. Not everyone who knows two languages can be a translator. ~ Nataly Kelly

It was nice to be in my own country, where I didn't need a translator or a driver. Where I didn't need to figure out cultural references or what hijab I needed to wear to cover my hair. ~ Lynsey Addario

There is no such thing as a perfect, ideal, or 'correct' translation. A translator is always trying to extend his knowledge and improve his means of expression; he is always pursuing facts and words. ~ Peter Newmark

(Temeraire:) "Can one hire a translator to say things properly?"
"Yes; they are called lawyers," Tharkay said, and laughed softly to himself. ~ Naomi Novik