Even translating the title of this post from Italian constitutes an act of treason from the part of the translator. This post was the starting point for me to write my own opinions regarding this matter.
Does literal translation ever do any good?
Let’s take that last phrase in the question above – do any good. In an affirmative sentence, that would be either do good or do some good. So, there is already a change in the original language, which is again necessary because of the grammatical rules that govern the English language.
Now, such a phrase in my language would not make any sense if translated literally. Since Macedonian only has one verb for both DO and MAKE (with the meaning heavily leaning on the MAKE side of that duality), it is immediately ruled out as somewhat of a nonsense.
I’d have to go with phrases with similar meaning just to be able to capture the essence of the question’s meaning. Some phrases that come to mind would include (I’ll write out the question in full, in English):
• Does literal translation have any benefits?
• Is literal translation any good?
• Has literal translation ever brought anything good?
Now, these questions would be more literally translated in Macedonian as they appear in English above, as the phrasing is closer to the meaning in my language (but then again, Slavic languages don’t really have the concept of Present Perfect tense – the third example: has…brought, so even then it is an issue)
What makes an adequate translation?
In my view, an adequate translation is one that bridges the gap of (mis)understanding that arises when meaning is transferred from one language to another. Since poetry is a kind of language that is really condensed (as in, well-chosen, carefully selected), this gap has to be bridged in a similar fashion – carefully, and most of all, adequately.
Since meaning arises from words and phrases, these have to be well selected, and, if there isn’t a clear-cut equivalent in either language, which is often the case, synonyms and synonymous phrases must be used to bridge said gap.
Adequate, then, becomes the case of as approximate as possible.
Is it really a rewarding task?
It is, if you know what you’re doing. If not, you can try and work on it, but it takes time and patience to practice translating adequately.
My guess is that if you are translating your own body of work, then it should be more rewarding than frustrating (cos, you know, it can be quite the head-scratcher).
Thanks for your attention.
If you are a translator, let me know what your process is/what your opinions are on the matter.
