tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post2337164315891431237..comments2023-08-29T02:42:23.063-05:00Comments on ¡Bemsha SWING!: Poetry the Least Translated Genre?Jonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-15018355762120805472011-08-17T02:06:31.803-05:002011-08-17T02:06:31.803-05:00Novels that do get re-translated come out in new v...Novels that do get re-translated come out in new versions as soon as the copyright expires, and always for the same reason: perceived inadequacy of the original translation.Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-3383997724032550932011-08-17T02:04:19.786-05:002011-08-17T02:04:19.786-05:00Lorca, Rimbaud, Rilke, over and over again!Lorca, Rimbaud, Rilke, over and over again!Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-71685348850301455632011-08-16T13:06:28.061-05:002011-08-16T13:06:28.061-05:00Very true, and I think also a clue to the other qu...Very true, and I think also a clue to the other question. Two translations of one novel, if made at roughly the same time, will be more similar than two translations of one poem.Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-66074791918970187292011-08-16T12:42:28.464-05:002011-08-16T12:42:28.464-05:00Sorry, I was just following my own thought process...Sorry, I was just following my own thought processes. <br /><br />It's the opposite with novels. Once a novel is translated, that's it. Only classics from previous centuries are re-translated. But once a poet becomes fashionable, he or she is translated over and over.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-8660192178075806082011-08-16T12:36:48.308-05:002011-08-16T12:36:48.308-05:00I agree that my suggestion doesn't answer the ...I agree that my suggestion doesn't answer the question you didn't ask. ;-) The spottiness or clumpiness of translation may be due to simple market thinking -- if I'm looking around for the next thing to translate, it'll be hard not to be influenced by the demonstrated tastes of my audience. You don't get to be Stephen Mitchell just by introducing previously untranslated work.<br /><br />But I think this problem is more tractable than the general one of difficulty -- publishers and translators can choose to spread themselves more widely.Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-29197860109694978472011-08-16T10:12:57.331-05:002011-08-16T10:12:57.331-05:00That doesn't explain why some poets are transl...That doesn't explain why some poets are translated over and over again and some not at all. <br /><br />This is actually surprising to me, because I thought poetry was translated quite a bit. Every good poet I know translates... I actually think drama is the least translated genre, but I could be wrong.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-44368438553559740742011-08-15T19:11:25.779-05:002011-08-15T19:11:25.779-05:00Isn't this a case where the conventional wisdo...Isn't this a case where the conventional wisdom -- encapsulated in the Frost cliché -- is just correct? Poetry is harder to translate, and translated poetry is harder to read. Take Mandelstam in English: amazing prose works, narrow puzzling poems. One reads them, of course, with a special indulgence and tries to imagine the Russian poem behind that text -- to do better, one would have to learn the original language.Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-65035455419825089822011-08-14T23:12:34.649-05:002011-08-14T23:12:34.649-05:00i am pretty sure is the last translated genre. un...i am pretty sure <a href="http://www.briefcaseit.com/2011/08/14/poetry-of-the-day/" rel="nofollow"> is the last translated genre</a>. unless u count lyrics.Someonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14397953670088381932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3759353.post-69276501482649779622011-08-14T15:04:40.548-05:002011-08-14T15:04:40.548-05:00I've been doing my share, but this inspires me...I've been doing my share, but this inspires me to get back to it (after a rather long break).Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.com