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>> "Translating his works is difficult due to passages with elaborate word formation, idiomatic wordplay, alien or robotic poetry, and puns." >> But he is the
by symplee 7y ago
>> "Translating his works is difficult due to passages with elaborate word formation, idiomatic wordplay, alien or robotic poetry, and puns."
>> But he is the only writer of European [science fiction, most of whose] books have been translated into English, and [...] kept in print in the USA. Lem's critical success in English is due mostly to the excellent translations of Michael Kandel.
Anyone know if there's an effort being put into newer translations? A quick check of when Kandel made these translations:
Memoirs Found in a Bathtub (with Christine Rose, 1973),
The Cyberiad (1974),
The Futurological Congress (1974),
The Star Diaries (1976),
Mortal Engines (1977),
A Perfect Vacuum (1978),
His Master's Voice (1983),
Fiasco (1987),
Peace on Earth (with Elinor Ford, 1994),
Highcastle: A Remembrance (1995),
With notable books missing, it would be great to see the rest, and the above potentially (slightly) modernized.
Side note - are there any open source translation initiatives? Where a book in its native tongue is collaboratively translated and seen as a living document to continually be updated with the times. (With the ability for a user to roll back and see the language of 10 years ago, etc. or by preference for specific translators.)
- mcv 7y agoI'm particularly impressed by the translation of The Cyberiad. There are some amazingly clever poems in there that must have been impossible to translate. I'd love to see an analysis of how much of those poems was translated, and how much was just rewritten from scratch because some things are just impossible to translate while sticking to such a tight form.
- oldgradstudent 7y ago> "Have it compose a poem—a poem about a haircut! But lofty, noble, tragic, timeless, full of love, treachery, retribution, quiet heroism in the face of certain doom! Six lines, cleverly rhymed, and every word beginning with the letter s!!" > Seduced, shaggy Samson snored. > She scissored short. Sorely shorn, > Soon shackled slave, Samson sighed, > Silently scheming, > Sightlessly seeking > Some savage, spectacular suicide. I've found an article that compares the translation the original Polish. The translator had to change the premise of the poem and write a completely new poem: https://medium.com/@mwichary/seduced-shaggy-samson-snored-725b5a8086d9 https://medium.com/@mwichary/seduced-shaggy-samson-snored-72...
- mcv 7y agoAs I expected: it's a total rewrite, just with similarly restrictive requirements. But the theme changed from cybererotica (though there wasn't much cyber about the original) to biblical tragedy.