Monday, 9 May 2016

Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame,
Andre Lefevere, Routledge Publications, 1992, page 51

So what can the exercise and examination of translated works show us? What lessons can be learned by studying the translation process, as well as the translated works themselves? Lefevere has an answer:

Translated texts as such can teach us much about the interaction of cultures and the manipulation of texts. These topics, in turn, may be more more interest to the world at large than our opinion as to whether a certain world has been "properly" translated or not. In fact, far from being "objective" or "value-free," as their advocates would have us believe, "faithful translations" are often inspired by a conservative ideology.

Perhaps that shouldn't surprise us, but we need to take careful note. 'Conservative' is a relative term, changing with the society and culture of the receiving or reading public. What 'now' doesn't like will change the way texts and other culture are translated, in the name of fidelity!