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Re: RES: [NABOKV-L] QUERY -- VN and checking translations
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On 2/26/16, Jansy Mello <jansy.mello@outlook.com> wrote:
> Jansy Mello: I’m not the best VN reader to give you this information, but 1.
> There are various anecdotes about VN criticizing translations made by other
> writers. In “Ada, or Ardor” you find many paragraphs discussing Cowper and a
> few other translators, there’s Ada, a character in a novel, offering her
> various translations to Van or her father or translating another character’s
> (VN’s poet John Shade, in “Pale Fire”). Amusing commentaries and mistakes in
> translation there’s Kinbote (fiction) on his uncle’s English into Zemblan
> and much more. Two other places to check are VN’s “Strong Opinions” and his
> “Lectures on Literature” (European and Russian) 2. Also to be found in the
> above; 3. VN translated his own works, with various observations in his
> Forewords (such as to “The eye”, to “King,Queen, Knave”), or some of his
> short-stories (with Dmitri and others) and the notes at the end of his
> collected stories (“Nabokov’s Short-Stories”). A fundamental text is VN’s
> translation and notes on Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin”.
>
Thank you very much for the comments.
VN (Strong Opinions) (in relation to the translations of his books)
"... the system is a strict checking of every sentence. In the
case of Japanese or Turkish versions, I try not to imagine the
disasters that probably bespatter every page. (What are your plans
for future work?) "
------- Did he actually find "disasters" in Japanese or Turkish ?
I found the anecdote about Pope in a book, and it's reproduced here:
http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/anecdtes/c18/pope.htm
Pope didn't hire the translator. It was by Mr. Lintott or the
rival Mr. Tonson.
Last week I thought I saw a relevant message in the archive,
then I had lost it, and yesterday I found it again.
(from Mr. Dieter Zimmer, May 6, 2013)
>>> ............. [VN] He was especially suspicious in the case of ‘Bend Sinister’ the anonymous first English translation of which, commissioned by the Pentagon in 1948 to further German reeducation, after a short check “appalled” him utterly. He rejected its publication downright in a letter written on August 24, 1948, to Col. Joseph I. Greene (‘Selected Letters 1940-1977’, p.85-86). <<<
This letter is not mentioned in
[Vladimir Nabokov : The American Years] by Brian Boyd.
but it's in [Vera], p.133n
I will try to find a confirmation that VN did indeed stop the publication
of this poor translation.
re: back-translation (for checking a translation)
A translation would have to be really poor
for a [back-translation check] to be useful.
(e.g. confusing the verb "fall" and the season "fall" )
Was back-translation (for checking a translation)
actually used by VN or someone else?
I'll continue to be interested in these topics (and back-translation check),
so I'd appreciate help, or comments.
Thank you again. HH
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The Nabokov Society of Japan's Annotations to Ada: http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html
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> Jansy Mello: I’m not the best VN reader to give you this information, but 1.
> There are various anecdotes about VN criticizing translations made by other
> writers. In “Ada, or Ardor” you find many paragraphs discussing Cowper and a
> few other translators, there’s Ada, a character in a novel, offering her
> various translations to Van or her father or translating another character’s
> (VN’s poet John Shade, in “Pale Fire”). Amusing commentaries and mistakes in
> translation there’s Kinbote (fiction) on his uncle’s English into Zemblan
> and much more. Two other places to check are VN’s “Strong Opinions” and his
> “Lectures on Literature” (European and Russian) 2. Also to be found in the
> above; 3. VN translated his own works, with various observations in his
> Forewords (such as to “The eye”, to “King,Queen, Knave”), or some of his
> short-stories (with Dmitri and others) and the notes at the end of his
> collected stories (“Nabokov’s Short-Stories”). A fundamental text is VN’s
> translation and notes on Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin”.
>
Thank you very much for the comments.
VN (Strong Opinions) (in relation to the translations of his books)
"... the system is a strict checking of every sentence. In the
case of Japanese or Turkish versions, I try not to imagine the
disasters that probably bespatter every page. (What are your plans
for future work?) "
------- Did he actually find "disasters" in Japanese or Turkish ?
I found the anecdote about Pope in a book, and it's reproduced here:
http://www.ourcivilisation.com/smartboard/shop/anecdtes/c18/pope.htm
Pope didn't hire the translator. It was by Mr. Lintott or the
rival Mr. Tonson.
Last week I thought I saw a relevant message in the archive,
then I had lost it, and yesterday I found it again.
(from Mr. Dieter Zimmer, May 6, 2013)
>>> ............. [VN] He was especially suspicious in the case of ‘Bend Sinister’ the anonymous first English translation of which, commissioned by the Pentagon in 1948 to further German reeducation, after a short check “appalled” him utterly. He rejected its publication downright in a letter written on August 24, 1948, to Col. Joseph I. Greene (‘Selected Letters 1940-1977’, p.85-86). <<<
This letter is not mentioned in
[Vladimir Nabokov : The American Years] by Brian Boyd.
but it's in [Vera], p.133n
I will try to find a confirmation that VN did indeed stop the publication
of this poor translation.
re: back-translation (for checking a translation)
A translation would have to be really poor
for a [back-translation check] to be useful.
(e.g. confusing the verb "fall" and the season "fall" )
Was back-translation (for checking a translation)
actually used by VN or someone else?
I'll continue to be interested in these topics (and back-translation check),
so I'd appreciate help, or comments.
Thank you again. HH
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
AdaOnline: "http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/
The Nabokov Society of Japan's Annotations to Ada: http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html
The VN Bibliography Blog: http://vnbiblio.com/
Search the archive with L-Soft: https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L
Manage subscription options :http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=NABOKV-L