Copeland's ruminations on the voice of a translator and what voices influence us felt like a way pull together the past things we've read in this course. It's sort of obviously true, we saw the same thing in our own translated excerpts in class, with our own experiences clouding our translations, but I appreciated how nuanced Copeland was. I particularly enjoyed her recollection of the concept of flowers grown in salt, and how the original translator had grown attached to an idea that she felt appropriately captured the feelings of women in the past, even if it wasn't entirely accurate. Perhaps some of our past translators who we've read would disagree with the concept, saying that it's our duty to stick as close to the text as possible, but as we've looked at translating speeches and articles over the past few weeks, I've found myself becoming a lot more forgiving of liberties with the text. In a way, I think may understand what Copeland is getting at in the beginning of her text when she said a perfect English translation is a naive wish.
The case study of Grotesque was also interesting. I think that the concept of editors cutting out entire scenes to create a good reading experience that the Japanese audience felt– even though the definition of a good reading experience varies in both countries greatly– irks me in a way as well. I understand that publishing is done with the goal of sales, but if you cut out parts of a successful text, I'd be more concerned about creating an incomplete understanding of the piece. I almost want to say that it assumes the audience isn't capable of understanding anything more, without really giving them a chance.
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