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A panel debate on faithful translation

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Two translators with opposite instincts argue, wittily and without much mercy, about whether a translation should stay faithful or read fluently.

Audio and answer checking: https://joy-english.com/listening/translation-fidelity-panel-debate

Opinions, irony and attitude

Listen to the recording. Choose the best answer. Think about what is implied as well as what is said.

What is the main question the guests discuss?
- a) Whether translators are paid fairly
- b) Whether a translation should stay close to the original or read smoothly
- c) Whether old poetry can be translated at all
- d) Whether novels sell better in translation
What does Fabian imply by "I shall resist the suspicion, though only for a sentence"?
- a) That he does not want to speak first
- b) That he is nervous on the radio
- c) That Naomi is right and he is eager to speak
- d) That he disagrees with the presenter's question
How does Tola react to the image of the translator as a guest?
- a) She finds it charming but mocks it for ignoring the reader
- b) She adopts it as her own view
- c) She says it is accurate for poetry only
- d) She thinks it is too rude to the author
According to Fabian, what does a translator who smooths an awkward word do?
- a) Helps the reader
- b) Improves the poet's style
- c) Corrects a mistake
- d) Pleases himself rather than the reader
What does Tola mean by "Both of ours, which is rather the point"?
- a) The author refuses to be named
- b) The translator deserves more credit than the author
- c) Every translation is shaped by two people, so it is never untouched
- d) Readers rarely look at the cover
In which case does Fabian grudgingly agree with Tola?
- a) Medieval poetry
- b) Spoken dialogue in novels
- c) Titles of books
- d) Names of places
What is Tola's regret?
- a) That she added a footnote
- b) That she translated a novel from the wrong language
- c) That she left a local word untranslated
- d) That she replaced a local word with a plain English one
Why does Fabian say "Please don't say that in public"?
- a) He is joking about protecting his image as stubborn
- b) He is genuinely angry with Naomi
- c) He wants the programme to end
- d) He thinks the middle position is wrong

Key details

Listen again. Type one word or number from the recording to complete each sentence.

Fabian has spent ___ years translating medieval poetry.
Tola says that if a joke needs a ___, it has stopped being a joke.
Fabian says people in a novel do not speak like ___.
Fabian says his students describe his early translations as ___.
Tola replaced a local word for a particular kind of ___.
Tola wants an English reader to laugh when a ___ reader would.

Answer key

Opinions, irony and attitude

b) Whether a translation should stay close to the original or read smoothlyNaomi asks whether a translation should be faithful or readable.
c) That Naomi is right and he is eager to speakHe jokes that he will hold back only briefly, which admits he is eager to go first.
a) She finds it charming but mocks it for ignoring the readerShe calls it charming, but her ironic comment about the uncomfortable house shows she thinks it neglects the reader.
d) Pleases himself rather than the readerHe says such a translator has not helped the reader but flattered himself.
c) Every translation is shaped by two people, so it is never untouchedShe means the original is always changed by the translator, so both names belong.
b) Spoken dialogue in novelsHe concedes that dialogue must sound natural, and literal rendering would sound like a legal document.
d) That she replaced a local word with a plain English oneShe swapped the local word for fog with plain fog and thinks readers lost something.
a) He is joking about protecting his image as stubbornIt is a joke: he values his reputation for obstinacy, and agreeing would damage it.

Key details

twenty / 20Naomi introduces him as having spent twenty years on medieval poetry.
footnoteShe says a joke that needs a footnote is no longer a joke.
footnotesHe says people in a novel do not speak like footnotes.
braveHe says they describe them, kindly, as brave.
fogThe local word was for one kind of fog.
FrenchShe wants the English reader to laugh at the moment a French reader would.

Transcript

Naomi: Welcome to Word for Word. Tonight we ask a question that translators have argued about, politely and otherwise, for centuries: should a translation be faithful, or should it be readable? With me are Doctor Fabian Roux, who has spent twenty years translating medieval poetry, and Tola Adeyemi, who translates contemporary novels. Fabian, I suspect you'll want to go first.

Fabian: I shall resist the suspicion, though only for a sentence. My view is that a translator is a guest in someone else's house, and one does not rearrange the furniture. If the poet chose an awkward word, the awkwardness is part of the poem, and a translator who smooths it away has not helped the reader but flattered himself.

Tola: What a charming picture, and how convenient that the guest never has to explain to anyone why the house is so uncomfortable. I'd say the reader is the one who matters. If a joke needs a footnote, it has stopped being a joke. My job is to make an English reader laugh at the same moment a French reader would, even if I have to build a different joke to do it.

Fabian: Build a different joke, and you have written a different book. Whose name goes on the cover?

Tola: Both of ours, which is rather the point. Nobody pretends the novel reached you untouched. The only question is whether the touching was done with skill.

Naomi: Let me press you on that, Tola. Isn't there a danger that a fluent translation persuades readers that the foreign author was simply an English writer in disguise?

Tola: A real danger, and a flattering one for English. I try to leave a little strangeness in, a rhythm or an image that an English writer wouldn't quite choose, so that the reader senses a different mind at work.

Naomi: Fabian, is there any case in which you'd concede?

Fabian: Several, and I'm irritated to say so. Dialogue, for one. People in a novel do not speak like footnotes. If a character in the original swears, hesitates or sulks, the English must do likewise, and a literal rendering would make her sound like a legal document. I'd also concede that my own early translations, which I regarded as models of loyalty, are now unreadable. My students describe them, kindly, as brave.

Tola: I'll make a concession in return. When I worked on a novel set in a fishing village, I replaced a local word for one particular kind of fog with plain English fog. It was neat, it was fluent, and I have regretted it ever since. The reader lost something they would have enjoyed learning.

Naomi: So you've both moved towards the middle.

Fabian: Please don't say that in public. It would ruin my reputation for obstinacy.

Tola: Mine is already ruined, so I'm happy to be quoted. The truth is that the best translations feel faithful in spirit and free in detail, and nobody has ever agreed on which is which.

Naomi: On that note of cheerful disagreement, we'll take a short break.