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OOC post: Bowdlerising Dahn
Sep. 10th, 2008 09:46 pmSo, I ordered the English translation of Teja's canon, 'A Struggle For Rome', with vague intention of having a version to quote in Milliways without having to translate everything myself on the fly, and maybe spreading the love, as one does.
The book has been translated by one Herb Parker, who, in the preface, says he did it out of early love for that wonderful book, in his spare time, for four years. You can do that sort of thing, of course, with a book the copyright of which has long expired. Translate it, find a publisher. Felix Dahn is still entertaining, the way Sir Walter Scott or Bulwer-Lytton still is, as well.
Honourable intentions, really. The translation is solid, conscientious, if plodding; it reads as fluent English, a tale that is well told in its own old-fashioned way, and makes sense -- without Dahn's artificially high-flowing language and wilfull punctuation, too. Having Teja referred to as Teias throughout takes some getting used to, but even that is not insurmountable.
However, the one thing that truly irks me is the fact that the translator took out, painstakingly, all the subtext between Teja and Adalgoth. He seems to have though 'Oh noes! That sounds so gay -- will deter all my readers! This has to go!' and then applied the changes. They are very small things, in an otherwise carefully rendered text, but they are very, very noticeable. A few examples:
Having to bowdlerise it means of course that the subtext is totally there -- but I find it ridiculous. Simply ridiculous. Now, one may claim that the ideas of romantic friendship were different in 1875, and Felix Dahn had no idea of what that would sound like 130 years later, to a readership used to more or less intentionial slashy subtext -- but that is no reason to take it out, totally ignoring the context as it is (or not).
Add to that an afterword in which he, for all practical purposes, goes on to confess at great length of having no idea of the historical truth and source material (available easily through Wikipedia and Wikisource, especially if you know German as well) -- duh!
And yes, I know this entry, unlocked as it is, is probably Google bait. But do you know how many blokes named Herb Parker are, out there, to be found by Google? And as this fellow doesn't seem to have a home page anywhere on which he can claim that he's the Herb Parker who translated Felix Dahn's 'Ein Kampf um Rom'? I meant to mock him by email, to his face; but as I can't find him, I have to mock him in public and hope he does ego searches...
[[Cross-posted to my mun journal.]]
The book has been translated by one Herb Parker, who, in the preface, says he did it out of early love for that wonderful book, in his spare time, for four years. You can do that sort of thing, of course, with a book the copyright of which has long expired. Translate it, find a publisher. Felix Dahn is still entertaining, the way Sir Walter Scott or Bulwer-Lytton still is, as well.
Honourable intentions, really. The translation is solid, conscientious, if plodding; it reads as fluent English, a tale that is well told in its own old-fashioned way, and makes sense -- without Dahn's artificially high-flowing language and wilfull punctuation, too. Having Teja referred to as Teias throughout takes some getting used to, but even that is not insurmountable.
However, the one thing that truly irks me is the fact that the translator took out, painstakingly, all the subtext between Teja and Adalgoth. He seems to have though 'Oh noes! That sounds so gay -- will deter all my readers! This has to go!' and then applied the changes. They are very small things, in an otherwise carefully rendered text, but they are very, very noticeable. A few examples:
| Original German | Rough literal translation | Herb Parker's translation |
| "Eine Ahnung, mein Adalgoth," sprach Teja, den Arm um des Jünglings Nacken schlingend. | "Just a foreboding, my Adalgoth," Teja said, winding his arm around the youth's neck. | "A premonition, my Adalgoth," said Teias, placing his arm abou the youth. |
| "Ja, glorreich, mein Liebling." | "Yes, glorious, my darling." [[Teja to Adalgoth, in the scene before the curtain]] | "Yes, glory, my young friend." |
| Und begeistert, nicht mehr weinend, warf sich Adalgoth an seines Königs Brust. | Ardently, no longer crying, Adalgoth threw himself into his King's arms. | And now Adalgoth, no longer despairing but filled with the fire of inspiration, grasped he hands of his king. |
| "Und König Teja," sprach Adalgoth und küßte des Toten Mund. | "And King Teja," Adaloth said, and kissed the dead man's lips. | "And King Teias!" Adalgoth completed the sentence, and lightly touched the forehead of the dead Teias with his lips. |
Having to bowdlerise it means of course that the subtext is totally there -- but I find it ridiculous. Simply ridiculous. Now, one may claim that the ideas of romantic friendship were different in 1875, and Felix Dahn had no idea of what that would sound like 130 years later, to a readership used to more or less intentionial slashy subtext -- but that is no reason to take it out, totally ignoring the context as it is (or not).
Add to that an afterword in which he, for all practical purposes, goes on to confess at great length of having no idea of the historical truth and source material (available easily through Wikipedia and Wikisource, especially if you know German as well) -- duh!
And yes, I know this entry, unlocked as it is, is probably Google bait. But do you know how many blokes named Herb Parker are, out there, to be found by Google? And as this fellow doesn't seem to have a home page anywhere on which he can claim that he's the Herb Parker who translated Felix Dahn's 'Ein Kampf um Rom'? I meant to mock him by email, to his face; but as I can't find him, I have to mock him in public and hope he does ego searches...
[[Cross-posted to my mun journal.]]