Sympathy for the Traitor
A Translation Manifesto
Mark Polizzotti
- An
- engaging
- and
- unabashedly
- opinionated
- examination
- of
- what
- translation
- is
- and
- isn't.For
- some,
- translation
- is
- the
- poor
- cousin
- of
- literature,
- a
- necessary
- evil
- if
- not
- an
- outright
- travesty—summed
- up
- by
- the
- old
- Italian
- play
- on
- words,
- traduttore,
- traditore
- (translator,
- traitor).
- For
- others,
- translation
- is
- the
- royal
- road
- to
- cross-cultural
- understanding
- and
- literary
- enrichment.
- In
- this
- nuanced
- and
- provocative
- study,
- Mark
- Polizzotti
- attempts
- to
- reframe
- the
- debate
- along
- more
- fruitful
- lines.
- Eschewing
- both
- these
- easy
- polarities
- and
- the
- increasingly
- abstract
- discourse
- of
- translation
- theory,
- he
- brings
- the
- main
- questions
- into
- clearer
- focus:
- What
- is
- the
- ultimate
- goal
- of
- a
- translation?
- What
- does
- it
- mean
- to
- label
- a
- rendering
- “faithful”?
- (Faithful
- to
- what?)
- Is
- something
- inevitably
- lost
- in
- translation,
- and
- can
- something
- also
- be
- gained?
- Does
- translation
- matter,
- and
- if
- so,
- why?
- Unashamedly
- opinionated,
- both
- a
- manual
- and
- a
- manifesto,
- his
- book
- invites
- usto
- sympathize
- with
- the
- translator
- not
- as
- a
- “traitor”
- but
- as
- the
- author's
- creative
- partner.Polizzotti,
- himself
- a
- translator
- of
- authors
- from
- Patrick
- Modiano
- to
- Gustave
- Flaubert,
- explores
- what
- translation
- is
- and
- what
- it
- isn't,
- and
- how
- it
- does
- or
- doesn't
- work.
- Translation,
- he
- writes,
- “skirts
- the
- boundaries
- between
- art
- and
- craft,
- originality
- and
- replication,
- altruism
- and
- commerce,
- genius
- and
- hack
- work.”
- In
- Sympathy
- for
- the
- Traitor,
- he
- shows
- us
- how
- to
- read
- not
- only
- translations
- but
- also
- the
- act
- of
- translation
- itself,
- treating
- it
- not
- as
- a
- problem
- to
- be
- solved
- but
- as
- an
- achievement
- to
- be
- celebrated—something,
- as
- Goethe
- put
- it,
- “impossible,
- necessary,
- and important.”
pro-mbooks3 : libris
