The World of a Book
By Alina Popescu on Nov 27, 2007 in This is me complaining
I see each book as being deeply connected with the culture it comes from. Therefore, I believe when translating a book, the translator of choice should do a little background research, ask around, and basically get to know the author and his/her culture. Just knowing the language is really not enough.
Especially when the book is written in one language by an author coming from a different culture. Like Elif Shafak’s ‘The Bastard of Istanbul’. I’ve previously written a bit on this book and it’s translation. But this translation comes back to haunt me.
I cannot understand why the translator has been so lazy as to overlook entire sentences written in Turkish..Yes, you got that right, no translation at all! How stupid can that be? And then, she amazes me again with her ignorance. She states “Elhamdulillah” is in Turkish in the original text!!! Hello??? That’s Arabic. Not Turkish. Maybe, just maybe, if you’d checked first, someone would have taken pitty on you and told you there are a lot of Arabic phrases used by Turks, most of the related to religious rituals.
I’ve wrote a letter to Polirom, the publishing house on this, and now I am really curious to see their reply.
Popularity: 4% [?]
Well done!
I also began to write e-mails to absolutely every store/service
provider/etc. that bothers me. Whether it’s about the quality of
products/services, or the attitude of their employees.
Maybe something will change. Not right now, but maybe someday.
Please post the reply!
b0gdan | Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
Hi Bogdan and thanks for the support
I started doing the same, hoping, like you, that something will eventually change
Alina Popescu | Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
I am curious to see if they reply at all. Keep us posted.
Mig | Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
I tried something similar with Nemira. One of their
books had even the title translated badly (Shadow Puppets became “Umbra
papusilor” - “Shadow of the Puppets”) and other related books having
different names for the same characters. I sent them an email and got
absolutely no reply whatsoever. So I’m currently looking for these
titles in English, the author’s native language.
Ryan | Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
I am also very curious. I’ll let you guys know
Alina Popescu | Nov 27, 2007 | Reply
Let’s see what they say. I also saw a lot of bad
translations, but I guess that with such an amount of new books they
are not that demanding and they accept any translation that could help
them sell. It’s a pity. I’m planning to take a literary translation
course next year. Let’s see how it goes.
Sim | Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
Bro, no comment on the translation issues you speak
Sim, I doubt they will ever reply. But anyway, I did something, not
I’m sure you’ll do great in next
of. And yes, I also look for a lot of books in English
just complain about it in vain
year’s course
Alina Popescu | Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
Girl, why don’t you just call them, send the book
back and ask for a refund? Then buy the book in English! Maybe this way
they will understand the concept of “quality” and the idea of “customer
service.”
Mig | Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
AHA! So you are busy fighting against this publishing house. No? Then how do you explain your prolonged absence?
Mig | Dec 4, 2007 | Reply
Hey Mig, I’m waiting for the blog to me
moved…Backed up everything, exported the posts/comments and all and
it should all be done by tomorrow
Alina Popescu | Dec 4, 2007 | Reply