Creative Intellect

The Art of Translation

         Translations of foreign texts to any other language require great thought and analysis. There needs to be a balance of what the original author tried to evoke, and what would make the piece relevant to today’s world. Each word or phrase in a translation has its own purpose and contributes to the overall feeling of the piece. I just translated the lyrics of a song from Chinese to English, with the help of Google Translate. Some words were substituted for others, simply because they didn’t sound right. Others did not fit in the context or mood of the song.
         Therefore, what is omitted from a translation is just as important as what was included. How the translation looks is also important. For example, we are presented with two different translations of Otto von Guericke’s account on the destruction of Magdeburg; the first one, from J.H. Robinson, is a stark comparison to the second translation, from Julie K. Tanaka.
         Robinson’s translation is much more rigid, and is formatted so the reader gets the basics of what is happening. Robinson’s diction is grander and more concise, as if it were being presented to a king. Robinson eliminates potentially confusing terminology, such as “Haiduk”, or “hullabaloo”. In comparison, Tanaka’s translation is much more informal, it seems like she is talking in a conversation with the audience, her word choice, while more technical, is also more casual.
         Tanaka’s translation gave me a feeling of reading a story. It felt like she was telling her audience the story of how Magdeburg was ruined, as opposed to Robinson’s version, which could be easily imagined to be an article in an encyclopedia or archaic book.
          One other important facet of translation is an understanding of the culture. Sometimes there are idioms the author uses which, when translated directly, make no sense. Translators need cultural background to understand the original author's meaning. For example, if a translator were to literally translate "it's raining cats and dogs", he would make everyone reading the translation either run in fear, or leave the reading confused, because they would believe that cats and dogs really were falling from the sky. However, the actual meaning, that it is raining hard, would mean the reader would instead pull out an umbrella and his rain gear, safely proceeding outside.
 
Works Cited:
Robinson, James. “A Personal Account of the Destruction of Magdeburg”. Readings in European History. Ginn & Co. 1906. Pp. 211-213
Tanaka, Julie. “A Local Apocalypse – The Sack of Magdeburg (1631)” German History in Documents and Images. N.p. 1996. Web.
         <http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/docpage.cfm?docpage_id=5405> 7 Nov. 2014.


And in case you were wondering, the translated song lyrics are here, too:

lyrics to "At least I still have you"  (E) not my song, but it's my translation of the song

*UPDATE*
I found somebody else's translation of the song online- feel free to compare:
https://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080512180616AAocYJs