An update from our sixty-seventh Writing Workshop with Conner Bassett A summary of the workshop held on Saturday, May 13 We began the workshop by discussing the etymology of translation. Translation comes from the Latin phrase, “to be carried across.” Conner encouraged us to adopt a more “experimental view of translation.” He told us that there were many types of translation, such as ekphrasis, and that it is important to think of translation outside the boundaries of translation cliches—that things are “lost in translation” and that the translator is a traitor. We looked at some examples of translation. We read an excerpt from Dante’s Inferno in the original Italian and then three translations of it into English. The translations by John Ciardi, Robert Pinsky, and Clive James all focused on the rhyme scheme. However, Mary Jo Bang’s version had no rhyme scheme and used more colloquial language, focusing more on writing a poem that sounded just as good in English as it did in Italian rather than on literal translation. We thought about the question, “What matters most in translation?” Is it word accuracy, or conveying a feeling? The Challenge: Write a homolinguistic translation of Tomaz Salamun’s “Ships” and a homophonic translation of “Catullus 70” by Gaius Catullus. The Participants: Emma, Anushka, Stella, Samarina, Yueling, Philip, Catherine, Amaya, Aaron, Madeline, Seva, Nova
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How Stories Work—Writing Workshop #14: Translation
An update from our fourteenth Writing Workshop with Conner Bassett A summary of the workshop held on Saturday September 25, plus some of the output published below For this workshop on translation, we decided to switch things up a bit. Rather than teach the class towards one prompt and thus one finished piece of writing, the workshop was geared towards teaching three separate mini prompts, leaving the students with three finished works. To begin, we looked at two paintings depicting translation by way of angels moving from one place to another: The Translation of the Holy House of Loreto by Saturnino Gatti and The Miraculous Translation of the Body of Saint Catherine Alexandria to Sinai by Karl von Blaas. Next, we read four different translations—Clive James, Robert Pinsky, Mary Jo Bang, & John Ciardi—of the first nine lines from Dante’s Inferno in order to show how stylistically different translations can be, especially noting that of Mary Jo Bang. We then looked at two different translations—Jane Hirshfield & Robert Haas—of Basho’s haiku “Kyoto,” noting how the word “even” in Haas’ translation dramatizes the situation of the poem. Lastly, we looked at an english to english translation of Hamlet’s famous “To be or not to be” soliloquy and compared it to the original, noting how the original was definitively more beautiful. All of these examples were intended to formulate an answer to the question, “What matters most in translation?” Before writing, we considered that what is most important may be transferring literally one word into another language, conveying emotional accuracy, or capturing the tone, mood, or psychology of a piece. The Participants: Emma, Clara, Sinan, Lina, Ellie, Josh, Simran, Alice, Svitra, Ethan, Shilla, Olivia, Nova The Challenge: A challenge in three parts: Homolinguistic translation: In 10-12 minutes translate the poem “Ships” by Tomaz Salamun “english to english” by substituting word for word, phrase for phrase, line for line, or as a “free” translation as response to each phrase or sentence. Or translate the poem into another literary style or a different diction. Homophonic translation: In 10-12 minutes, take a poem that you can pronounce but not necessarily understand—in this case “70” by Catullus, written in Latin—and translate the sounds of the poem into english. Nonlinguistic translation: In 10-12 minutes, listen to several sounds (click below) and translate them into words. https://stonesoup.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Sound-file-from-How-Stories-Work—Writing-Workshop-14-Translation_09252021.mp4 Svitra Rajkumar, 13(Fremont, CA) Bubbling Brook Svitra Rajkumar, 13 The warbling brook bubbled loud and clear In rhythm with the other whimsical sounds Alluring noises attract squirrels Dancing through the air Inaudible voices swirl Whispering into your ears and clouding your brain Manipulating your mind Until nothing lies but the intoxicating calls Of the bubbling brook Two Poems: Freeway & Frog Land Ethan Zhang, 9 Freeway Cars jostled by, Creating and messing with wind, Creating and messing with sounds. A crescendo, A diminuendo. My hair wavers in the wind, As if lemongrass dancing to a rhythm. Frog Land Frogs jump about, Enlarging their mouths, And croaking. A strange language, In a strange land, Of frogs, Of nature, Of sounds.