Arabic-L:GEN:Translation Images Query

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Mon 16 Aug 1999
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1) Subject: Translation Images Query

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1)
Date: 16 Aug 1999
From: Z.A.Deeb at newcastle.ac.uk
Subject: Translation Images Query

Dear all,
During my PhD study in translation and while surveying the
literature, I came across some very interesting quotations that
compare translation or a translated work to something and a
translator/translators to somebody. Among the quotations I
 noted down are the following.

-ABOUT TRANSLATION:
 1. James Howell compares poetry to a luxurious Turkish carpet
 and compares a translation of a poem to a luxurious Turkish carpet
turned over.

 2. Norman Shapiro says, "a good translation is like a pane of glass.
You only notice that it's there when there are little imperfections -
 scratches, bubbles. Ideally, there shouldn't be any. It should never
 call attention to itself."

 3. "Torture and translation are, in fact, amongst the few fates that
 can be worse than death. Strictly speaking, translation is a subtle
 form of torture", The Spectator, 24. September, quoted in (Duff,
1981: 1).

4. "Translation is like a women; if beautiful, is never faithful, if
faithful, would not be beautiful".*

-ABOUT TRANSLATORS:
1- "A translator is like a cook; he should know the recipe but add
his own spices", kate Yarbrough (Third ITI International Colloquium
on Literary Translation, 1-3rd September 1998, Sheffield, UK.

 2- "Translators, like nudists,... ...", [Holman, 1997: 280]

*This is an often quoted saying but I still could not trace its
origin.

I feel that such sayings are worth studying to investigate in what
contexts they were said and how far they relate to the theory of
translation. Also, they raise the question: why in translation such
similes are more frequent than in any other discipline. If any one is
aware of similar sayings, I would be grateful if he or she could
pass them to me directly at my e.mail address:

                                                 Z.A.Deeb at ncl.ac.uk.
In anticipation of your co-operation, I thank you in advance.

Zakia Deeb

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End of Arabic-L: 16 Aug 1999