Author / EditorM

by EditorM

Creative alternatives to translation

I recall a memoirish article by someone who had been a simultaneous-translation officer at the UN. They recounted most proudly the occasion when they were doing the key Russian-to-English translation for a top Soviet official, who made a point using a very familiar (to Russians) quoted phrase from Pushkin [I’m guessing at this memory], and our protagonist came up with a Shakespeare phrase covering much the same idea, which they substituted! On the fly! [Or maybe they saw a written text just before going on?] Gosh, I hope it wasn’t That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain.

Well, whatever issues that sort of thing may present for literalist fans, there is no problem if an artist or writer is doing their own translation; or, indeed, preparing versions in different languages without picking out an “original” and a “translation”. And since these paired Macanudo strips give the sources for the quotations, this is a fine thing.

I didn’t know anything about Charly García, but here’s Wikipedia to the rescue.

Oh, and with some help from Google Translate, the Charly García line put in English could be “This is endurance”, and the Gloria Gaynor line put in Spanish could be “[Yo] Sobreviviré”.


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by EditorM

Prediction: The rescue will be WITTGENSTEIN’S Ladder

the lower one of this pair arrived in the mail and made me say, first, “Huh? What? IDU!” — but then “Maybe this is from an arc and the context will help”. The immediately previous comic did seem to go with today’s, and is printed below, as the upper of the pair. (The Girls are drowning in “history”, so maybe the recent mini-thread on time-travel — discussed here — would also fit as relevant, but it didn’t seem a strong case.)

Well, these do seem linked but different. What can provide a rescue from history? Technology maybe? No, says the top entry. Then maybe philosophy? Dopes the lower entry also say No to that suggestion? Or does it offer some hope? And how the heck can intoning Derrida’s name as parts of other words invoke any magic? 

P.S. Those with behind-the-scenes interest can take a look at this excerpt from the tree of categories: