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Un debate en panel sobre la traducción fiel

Nombre:Fecha:

Dos traductores con instintos opuestos discuten, con ingenio y sin mucha piedad, si una traducción debe ser fiel o leerse con fluidez.

Audio y corrección de respuestas: https://joy-english.com/es/listening/translation-fidelity-panel-debate

Opiniones, ironía y actitud

Escucha la grabación. Elige la mejor respuesta. Piensa en lo que se da a entender además de en lo que se dice.

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

Detalles clave

Escucha otra vez. Escribe una palabra o un número de la grabación para completar cada oración.

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.

Respuestas

Opiniones, ironía y actitud

b) Whether a translation should stay close to the original or read smoothlyNaomi pregunta si una traducción debe ser fiel o legible.
c) That Naomi is right and he is eager to speakBromea diciendo que se contendrá solo un momento, lo que admite que está deseando hablar primero.
a) She finds it charming but mocks it for ignoring the readerLo llama encantador, pero su comentario irónico sobre la casa incómoda muestra que cree que descuida al lector.
d) Pleases himself rather than the readerDice que un traductor así no ha ayudado al lector, sino que se ha halagado a sí mismo.
c) Every translation is shaped by two people, so it is never untouchedQuiere decir que el traductor siempre cambia el original, así que ambos nombres tienen cabida.
b) Spoken dialogue in novelsAdmite que el diálogo debe sonar natural y que una versión literal sonaría como un documento jurídico.
d) That she replaced a local word with a plain English oneCambió la palabra local para la niebla por la simple palabra fog y cree que los lectores perdieron algo.
a) He is joking about protecting his image as stubbornEs una broma: aprecia su fama de obstinado, y estar de acuerdo la dañaría.

Detalles clave

twenty / 20Naomi lo presenta como alguien que ha dedicado veinte años a la poesía medieval.
footnoteDice que un chiste que necesita una nota al pie ya no es un chiste.
footnotesDice que las personas de una novela no hablan como notas al pie.
braveDice que las describen, con amabilidad, como valientes.
fogLa palabra local designaba un tipo de niebla.
FrenchQuiere que el lector inglés se ría en el momento en que se reiría un lector francés.

Transcripción

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.