top of page

Translations

translation provided by Google

 

Word juggler, the translator. Disrupting and reassembling is not an easy thing. How disheartening it is to continue to clash with the levity of those (and there are many) who underestimate the work of the translator.

I am often asked: "How do you say in English ...?" And sometimes I happen to answer: "You don't say it." Inevitable, follows the blast: "Impossible!" But it is just like that. It is not said ... in the same way.

It is not said the same way because languages are different (as are cultures). Translating does not mean transposing words, but being able to communicate the same meaning. To do this, it is often necessary to use different words and expressions, changing the rhythm of the sentence, which arises from the intertwining of the words and determines the way in which the meaning reaches the reader. If to translate exactly a word or an expression I paraphrase and lengthen, I explain better, but I will not be able to have the same effect, and the balance of the sentence will be irremediably compromised. And how to respect the sounds capable of evoking, the onomatopoeias or assonances, of which the English language (for example) is very rich ... Not to mention the almost impossibility of translating slogans and advertising texts due to a further difficulty, that of transposing the cultural contexts.

Among the many things that I happened to read on translation, one more than the others clearly explains these difficulties. Francesco Pacifico was very skilled in using the metaphor of an Italian cook struggling with the preparation of a Thai dish. He would need blue cheese, but he only has gorgonzola available; the recipe requires the use of a wok to make a stir-fry of vegetables, but in the kitchen there are only simple pans… and the stir-fry becomes a nice "sautéed by sleepy Italian Sunday" 1. Here's what happens to the translator: words are different ingredients from language to language, from culture to culture, and must be blended with skilful alchemy. How to make that nuance of meaning, without breaking the rhythm of the sentence, if the closest equivalent to that word doesn't translate exactly the same thing, where to stop, what is permissible and what is not?

Another Pacific example concerns a completely banal, everyday phrase repeated over and over by the Americans: “Thank you, I really appreciate it”. How to translate it? ‹‹ “Thanks, I really appreciate it”. Maybe not, maybe you will have to change it every time. "Thanks, it's very kind of you". "Thanks, I'm grateful to you." "I was very pleased" 2. ››


1 Pacifico, Francesco, “The strange life of the translator”, Writing, De Agostini, n. 32

2 Ibid

bottom of page