Kundera article (and insults.)

[Marc Adler]

Robert Chandler(e)k dio:

> Kundera was not insulting the Czech language, but Marc Adler is certainly
> insulting translators.  It may not happen often but it is certainly not
> impossible for a translation to be as fine as an original work; it can even
> be finer (Poe is said to be more highly thought of in France than in the USA

As someone who makes his living translating, I'm certainly not insulting 
translators, and I do believe that translations, as independent works of 
art, can reach very high levels of quality. (Full disclosure: I don't do 
literary translation - I have to feed my family, after all! ;) ) A 
translation can never replace the original, however, and that's what it 
seems to me Kundera is trying to do. If he was grateful to the 
translator, why didn't he just say that "this translation is very good"? 
By certifying the literary value of the translation as being _equal_ to 
that of the original, he's doing something more than saying the 
translation is good. He's saying the translation can take the place of 
the original.

My speculation on his motive is this: it was a pragmatic step. He wanted 
his books translated into as many languages as possible, and knew there 
were many more French (-to-native-language) translators out there than 
there were for Czech, so by certifying the French translations as equal 
to the original, he made it possible for them to be used for translation 
purposes. And indeed, many of his translations are done from the French. 
A quick browse through www.amazon.co.jp shows that "The Joke," "The 
Farewell Party," and "Life is Elsewhere" are all translated into 
Japanese from the French (by Yoshinari Nishinaga). I think most people 
on this list would question the value of a translation of a translation. 
By certifying the value of the French translation, he pre-empted any 
such questioning of translations made from those French versions.

So, if he had wanted to show gratitude, he could've done just that. He 
didn't, though, and what he did was different, and, I believe, insulting 
to the Czech language, because it's saying that there was nothing 
uniquely Czech about the original. Then again, maybe there wasn't. Maybe 
he wrote in some kind of "styleless" style devoid of linguistic 
originality or beauty (like a Tom Clancy of Czech literature). I've 
never read the originals, so I don't know. If that's the case, then I 
stand corrected.

-- 
Marc Adler
marc at adlerpacific.com

Gauzak ez dira multzutu eta berretu
behar, mengoarik eta premiarik gabe.

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