READIN

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

🦋 Tirando a las lavazas con el bebé

de "Cosas que se dicen sobre la traducción"

por David Bellos
¿Es un pez en tu oreja?: La traducción y el sentido de todo
Capítulo 4

(porque me está gustando traducir de un lenguaje que conozco solamente corto en inglés: intentamos el proceso al revés...)

Y aún es verdad, los ejemplos de Cervantes, Walpole, MacPherson, Gary, Guilleragues, Makine, Clifford y otras también se demuestren que nunca podemos estar seguros de que leemos una obra original.

Ismail Kadare recuenta otra historia sobre la dificultad de distinguir entre textos originales y traducidos en su novela memorial, Chronicle in Stone. Teniendo luego diez años, se fue encantado de un libro que lo regaló un tío de él. Su historia de fantasmas, de castillos, asesinos, traiciones le gustaba inmensamente, precisamente porque parecía explicar en parte las circunstancias que a él alrededor tenían lugar, en la ciudad fortificada de Gjirokastër durante esos años de guerras y disputas. Eso libro fue Macbeth, por William Shakespeare. El joven Ismail podía ver a la Dama Macbeth en su propia calle, se las manos retorciendo en el balcón, las cosas terribles lavándose que le sucedían en la casa. Tenía ninguna idea de que este libro ha sido traducido de inglés. Fascinado infantilmente con un muchas veces releído texto, copiaba sus palabras; preguntado hoy por los periodistas el título de su primero libro escrito, responde siempre Macbeth, y hasta no más que la mitad de bromo. De cualquier modo que fue la traducción buena o mala, que a él tan le inspiró, seguramente no fue lavazas. Mucho mejor un elixir.

posted evening of January 28th, 2012: 1 response
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🦋 Language analysis: Christoper Higgs

http://htmlgiant.com/random/language-is-the-atmospheric-anomaly-our-fingers-and-tongues-make-happen/

Language is the atmospheric anomaly our fingers and tongues make happen

por Christopher Higgs

El lenguaje es la excentricidad atmosférica que nuestros dedos y lenguas hacen ocurrir

Consider the singing of suspended telephone lines or the vibration of a car antenna at certain mid-gruesome speeds. (A similar aeolian phenomenon is “flutter,” caused by vortices on the leeward side of the wire, distinguished from “gallop” by its high-frequency, low-amplitude motion.) To do so would be synonymous with considering the Kármán vortex street: a term in fluid dynamics for a repeating pattern of swirling vortices caused by the unsteady separation of a fluid’s flow over bluff bodies.

posted morning of January 28th, 2012: Respond
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Friday, January 27th, 2012

🦋 Turn off your mind relax and float downstream

(this playlist is preceded aurally by the playing of "Harvest Home" on my fiddle. Its object is mainly to ascertain how many songs in a row my computer can randomize that will keep me interested. And yes, obscurely a manner of bragging about my music collection I guess. For whatever good that does. I'd be glad to put the playlist on a disc and send it to you if you'll pay me potsage, drop me a line. Or better yet you can listen to the first d tracks of the playlist at dtracks.com.)

Hello, you've reached Goodfellas, Martin Scorsese's classic tale of Italian-American manhood, starring Ray Liotta, Bob DeNiro, and Joe Pesci. Unfortunately we're all busting each other's <bleep> at the moment.

Hmm. 50 min... or depending on how many times you repeat it, potentially forever. Many songs on this list that I would like to play and/or sing. (I got the borderline crazy idea that "The L&N don't stop here anymore" lyrics would sound really great sung to the tune of "Nashville Blues". And "Ecstasy"? Yes, "Winter Love", yes...(Other songs that would fit in this general arrangement and key: "Who'll Rock the Cradle," "Sweet Baby's Arms." And on this very mix, "Things ain't what they used to be" is at least a closely related arrangement and key.))

posted evening of January 27th, 2012: 1 response
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Es un hecho bien conocido que una traducción no buen sustituía el original.

Es también todamente falso.

También no tengo respuestas...

It's a well-known fact that a translation is no subsitute for the original.

It's also perfectly wrong

--David Bellos, Is that a fish in your ear?

↻...done

posted evening of January 27th, 2012: Respond
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🦋 Dream Blogging

Me and Sylvia were watching The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo with Monique's family. I was initially a bit surprised that we were deeming it age-appropriate for the younger kids; but it turned out Bree-Ann was totally into the book, and kept piping up to say what was going to happen. The remote control for Monique's entertainment center had way too many buttons and knobs on it and I could not figure out how to operate it.

posted morning of January 27th, 2012: Respond
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Wednesday, January 25th, 2012

🦋 El Círculo Croata de Venezuela

El último cuento de la colección nueva de Zupcic, Médicos taxistas, se dramáticamente diferencia del resto -- todos los son muy elegantes y lúcidos pero no (a excepción tal vez del hermoso "Tescucho, Italia") me inquietante cogen como los padre-ausente-y-criminal cuentos de sus colecciones jóvenes. Éso sí y hace una conexión bonita a los cuentos anteriores. (Los nuevos son indudablemente más fácil traducir, no estoy seguro de cómo esto interpretar.)

Cada uno de los cuentos en Médicos taxistas es a su manera excéntrico, es difícil clasificarlos juntos. El cuento titular me encuenta y en segunda lectura me deja pensando que es otra cosa detrás de la historia pero no puedo ver qué es. "El Barbero de Dalí" me ha riendo y rascándome la cabeza. "Doble Chávez" me da un sentido no del todo bienvenido de la identificación. Una lectura muy divertida.

"Amor que a otro puerto pertenece," el último cuento y el más largo, reexamina a otra manera la tema de Zlatica Didic y su hijo Zlatko Didic que Zupcic (Slavko el hijo de Slavko Zupcic) visitó por primera vez en su "Cartas hacia una novela". Zlatko comienca aquí, "Comencé a escribir este relato hace casi veinte años..." y de repente tengo una imagen más claro y más estimulante del (sin duda pequeño) cuerpo de su obra. Todo se junta.

The last story in Zupcic's new collection Médicos taxistas differs dramatically from the rest -- all of them are elegant and clear but none of them (except perhaps the beautiful "Tescucho, Italy") seizes me in the disquieting way that the absent/criminal-father stories in his juvenile collections do. This one does, and it creates a nice link to his earlier stories. (The new ones are indubitably easier to translate, I'm not quite sure what to make of this.)

Each of the stories in Médicos taxistas is oddball in its own way, I would have a hard time grouping them together. The title story enchants me and on second reading makes me feel I'm missing some element behind the story -- but certain that the unknown element is present behind the story. "The Barber of Dalí" ("Dalí's Barber" is probably a closer translation but I like the rhythm of this title) leaves me laughing and scratching my head. "Chávez Double" gives me a not completely welcome rush of identification. All in all a lot of fun to read.

"A Love Which Belongs to the Other Door," the last story and the longest, takes another look, through a different glass, at the subject of Zlatica Didic and his son Zlatko Didic, whom Zupcic (Slavko son of Slavko) first visited in his story "Letters Towards a Novel". Zlatko starts off by saying, "I began writing this story almost twenty years ago..." and suddenly I get a much clearer, more moving vision of the (to be sure small) body of his work -- it all comes together.

↻...done

posted evening of January 25th, 2012: Respond
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🦋 Conrad and the 20th Century

Juan Gabriel Vásquez took part in a live chat at the Guardian's Books section today -- here is what he has been thinking about recently:

For three whole days I have been thinking about Conrad's novels. Three in particular: Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and The Secret Agent. I wrote a small text trying to suggest how amazing it was that those three novels, published between 1899 and 1907, anticipate every major issue the world had to deal with during the â…©â…© century.

Oh and also: " I have a tendency to trust translators, mainly because nobody does it for the money."

posted evening of January 25th, 2012: Respond
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Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

🦋 Newt

A fine commentary on this year's presidential contest, from 30 years ago:

posted morning of January 24th, 2012: Respond
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Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

🦋 Pounding out chords of a fearful symmetry*

Watching The Artist with Ellen and Sylvia last night I was reminded of what a powerful instrument a movie soundtrack is. What a beautful movie! I recommend it for the acting (including Uggie the dog, who is replacing Asta in my affections), for the direction, for the dancing, but maybe most of all for the soundtrack. (I loved that when the movies started featuring sound, the soundtrack featured Pennies from Heaven, as sung by Rose Murphy.) At points the movie was best understood as a soundtrack delivery vehicle.

Update: ...And apparently the soundtrack generated a little controversy of its own...

* (cf. Orhan Pamuk, The Black Book.)

posted afternoon of January 22nd, 2012: Respond
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🦋 I talk to the trees, but they don't listen to me...

But, but, so, what if they could listen, could talk back? Bartholo­mäus Traubeck of Linz has created an experiment treating a tree's rings as the groove of a record. You can read about it and listen to the music he played at TNW. (Thanks for the link, Knight!)

posted morning of January 22nd, 2012: Respond
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