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I enjoyed Hofstadter's _Le ton beau de Marot_, which is precisely about this question; it studies many people's different translations of one particular obscure
by Smaug123 2y ago
I enjoyed Hofstadter's _Le ton beau de Marot_, which is precisely about this question; it studies many people's different translations of one particular obscure poem, and asks what properties of the original should be preserved.
- markc 2y agoI came here to mention this book also. I learned a lot. He explores a mind numbing number of properties which are potentially in the mix. They depend in turn on the properties of the source material. (Authors play all kinds of games with meter and structure and arbitrary constraints - and preserving some can come at the cost of deprecating others.) One warning: among the genuinely deep insights, Hofstadter can occasionally come off as smug and self-congratulatory about his own poetic genius. I found this rather off-putting - and surprising since I found the tone of G.E.B. rather more like enthusiastic play.
- kazinator 2y agoI have that book! Somewhere ...