book lust: why translation matters by edith grossman

 

Edith Grossman is a bookish hero of mine. I do not speak Spanish, but thanks to her brilliant translations of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, I have not been deprived of the authentic voices of these two modern masters. One day, I plan on making my way through her translations of Don Quixote and the works of Carlos Fuentes as well. For now, I will read Why Translation Matters when it is released by Yale University Press at the end of this month. This description from the publisher:

Why Translation Matters argues for the cultural importance of translation, and for a more encompassing and nuanced appreciation of the translator’s role. As the acclaimed translator Edith Grossman writes in her introduction, “My intention is to stimulate a new consideration of an area of literature that is too often ignored, misunderstood, or misrepresented.” 

For Grossman, translation has a transcendent importance: “Translation not only plays its important traditional role as the means that allows us access to literature originally written in one of the countless languages we cannot read, but it also represents a concrete literary presence with the crucial capacity to ease and make more meaningful our relationships to those with whom we may not have had a connection before. Translation always helps us to know, to see from a different angle, to attribute new value to what once may have been unfamiliar. As nations and as individuals, we have a critical need for that kind of understanding and insight. The alternative is unthinkable.”

Many of us agree that a poor translation can ruin what might have been a wonderful read, diluting the essence of a text in a misinterpretation of language that changes the very meaning of the work. A fine translation, as Grossman suggests in the quote above, allows a reader to transcend borders, difference and establish connection with the previously unfamiliar. As language itself is a dilution of thought, imagine the difficulties of retaining the authenticity of a text twice removed from origin. Done well there is an elegance to translation that is beautiful to see unfold. Hence two of my favorite bookish giants are Edith Grossman and Lydia Davis. So many others too. Who are your favorite translators? And what are your favorite translations?