Comments on: The anarchy of translation

By: Eric S.

Eric S. — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 20:47:10 +0000

I love that Italian phrase, “traduttore, tradittore.” It pops into my head every day at work.

By: Julia S.

Julia S. — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 19:41:07 +0000

Drat you, Mamatas! Once again the power of your superior beret^H^H^H sophistication has made me feel like an ignoramus.

By: uberVU - social c.

uberVU - social c. — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:02:12 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by esedia: A really thoughtful post on translation: http://www.haikasoru.com/uncategorized/the-anarchy-of-translation/...

By: nickmamatas

nickmamatas — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:20:57 +0000

Pfft, everyone already knows about Edogawa’s pseudonym already. I even blogged about it way back in June.

I’d be a syndicalist too, but it sounds like work!

By: Julia S.

Julia S. — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 21:16:48 +0000

Yep, as Turner says, you missed out the best part—江戸川乱歩 is a jokey transliteration* of “Edgar Allan Poe” so the pseudonym itself is a great illustration of your point.

And I am one translator who is a syndicalist. Or maybe a Fourierian phalangist, if I can have mine without the anti-Semitism.

*A la the Mots des Gousses Rames, “Di Tri Berrese,” etc.

By: Turner

Turner — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:09:32 +0000

Edogawa Rampo’s got another bend in the tweaked-in-translation tale, here:
Edgar Allan Poe
edoga arran po
edogawa rampo
The title’s similarity to a collection of Poe’s work is deliberate.

I’m always fascinated by how Japanese authors are translated- some authors come out very stilted, and others come out warm and human. Both of these authors (I’m thinking of Suzuki Koji and Haruki Murakami, respectively) sold phenomenally in Japan, yet I doubt Koji’s sold much at all in the US- and it’s got to be, at least in part, due to the translator’s style.

By: Tweets that mention The anarchy of translation « Haikasoru: Space Opera. Dark Fantasy. Hard Science. -- T.

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:38:30 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by MoonsukPark, Nick Mamatas. Nick Mamatas said: The translator is an anarchist: http://www.haikasoru.com/uncategorized/the-anarchy-of-translation/ #haikasoru [...]