How to translate a poem well -- my observation

来源: 中间小谢 2022-03-16 14:09:57 [] [旧帖] [给我悄悄话] 本文已被阅读: 次 (1550 bytes)

(I will change the title and some words to Chinese when I get home)

I can think of two fundamental rules:

1. One must acquire the voice of the poet. That is, to speak like the poet being translated. I saw a number of English translations of Li Bai's works, but none sounded like Li Bai. The translators seemed more interested in demonstrating their skills with the English language and showing how "cultured" they were.

2. One must acquire the "mechanism" of the imagery in the poem. Some poems have flying imageries (such as those of Li Bai), some flowing (such as Bai Ju Yi), some rushing, some hesitating, some leaping (such as Li He4) , some stationary (such Du4 Fu3) , and so on. One is not supposed to turn a flying poem into a leaping one, a flowing one into a stationary one, for instances.

In my reading experiences, most translations fail these two basics. Therefore the basic may well be the most challenging.

The rest such as rhyme, meter ... are all much less important or sometimes even superfluous in my observation. Often they do not translate from language to language, from culture to culture. If one draggs them through, during the struggle, one likely loses the voice and the mechanism of the imagery altogether. So, no need to labor it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

所有跟帖: 

其它文体的翻译有无类似的问题?比如中英译本和原文对比 译文给我的感觉和读原文得到的感觉不一样,味不同 即便译意准确 -SAR- 给 SAR 发送悄悄话 SAR 的博客首页 (0 bytes) () 03/16/2022 postreply 15:52:10

跟文体无关,主要是诗歌更难把握。 -snowandlotus- 给 snowandlotus 发送悄悄话 snowandlotus 的博客首页 (0 bytes) () 03/16/2022 postreply 16:54:09

我覺得就文學而言,不同體裁都應有這個要求,但詩要求最高,也最難。 -中间小谢- 给 中间小谢 发送悄悄话 (0 bytes) () 03/16/2022 postreply 18:49:50

喜欢小谢这一段。:)文学翻译,中国推崇出神入化,西方强调等值等效。神似化境与等值等效,是长久以来中外两种不同的翻译思想。 -简丹儿- 给 简丹儿 发送悄悄话 简丹儿 的博客首页 (1251 bytes) () 03/16/2022 postreply 18:39:55

謝各位,有六個讚,就不改回中文了。 -中间小谢- 给 中间小谢 发送悄悄话 (0 bytes) () 03/16/2022 postreply 18:45:07

用英文写关于唐诗宋词的诗歌评论,很见文字功底,英文的,还有古文的。。评论内容也很有见地。。 -盈盈一笑间- 给 盈盈一笑间 发送悄悄话 盈盈一笑间 的博客首页 (0 bytes) () 03/16/2022 postreply 19:27:50

盈盈過奖。我僅有些比较零碎的理解,有感而發倒是。 -中间小谢- 给 中间小谢 发送悄悄话 (0 bytes) () 03/16/2022 postreply 20:05:56

The "dynamics" of the imageries. -中间小谢- 给 中间小谢 发送悄悄话 (95 bytes) () 03/16/2022 postreply 20:47:02

登录点赞!brilliant points on voice and imagery -颤音- 给 颤音 发送悄悄话 颤音 的博客首页 (0 bytes) () 03/17/2022 postreply 08:31:25

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