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The Study of Literature in Translation

            In the highly diverse and global world we live in today, it is inevitable to come across a translated work. We see it in media and entertainment, anime being an example, for instance; communication in general requires it, as our world is becoming ever more connected – world leaders, business people, journalism; translation has touched all areas of society. Despite the existence of Google Translate, works use– at least the professionally licensed ones – human translators, because translation is not something that can just be quantified, there is no singular right answer or approach to translating a work.

            This problem is exacerbated once we get to historical texts which often uses different a different style of the same language and has a different cultural context. Consider the works of Shakespeare. Even native English speakers can have difficulty comprehending his works – though it is still the same language. Translating historical texts from other languages must also consider this element, for example making the decision on whether to ‘modernise’ the language or not. Again, think of Shakespeare’s works, and remember that there are some versions that attempt to modernise his works into a more colloquial and understandable style – there is even an emoji version of his works, which adapts them into ‘texting style’ (a step much too far in my opinion, but you can judge for yourself: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/OGS/omg-shakespeare).

The more popular and praised a story is in a culture, the harder a translator’s job is, really. As text D from the in-class exercise showed, with the controversy surrounding Feng Tang’s Chinese translation of works by Tagore, translators must take care to consider the culture and context of the works they translate, to go beyond just rewriting the story in another language, but to balance between making it understandable for its foreign audience and keeping the original ‘feel’ of the story – to truly capture what the story is trying to present in its unaltered form.

Despite the difficulties of translation, however, the benefits are clear. Audiences get expanded, new perspectives are opened to people all over the globe, the linguistic barriers that separate cultures, ideas, and people, get broken down through translation. With “The Thief and the Dogs”, we are exposed to the context of Egypt during the time of political change, from an insider’s perspective. Without translation breaking down the linguistic barrier for us, we would be separated from the ideas, culture, and story the literary work presents. 

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