Murasaki Translation Articles

All four of the articles addressed the challenges of translation, especially between two languages and cultures so vastly different.  Each of the articles brought up interesting points and ideas, but I feel that "The Mysteries of Translation" by Wendy Lesser and "Found in Translation" by Soojin Chang most resonated with my opinions towards translation. Further, the words of Lesser and Chang compliment each other well.  

Lesser believes that the main goal of a translator is to "let us hear the writer’s voice as [the translator] hears it in the original language," and I agree with her. It is nearly impossible to produce an exact translation from one language in to another, even if each language contains the words and ideas brought out in the original writing. As Chang says, "it turns out that culture is the hardest thing to translate."  Both of these authors stressed the importance of trying to recreate the same experience for the foreign reader as would be experienced in the original language. Since concepts such as humor or cultural references are more often than not difficult to translate, as words do not carry the same weight and connotation across languages. Further, concepts that are normal to the native reader, yet scarcely known by the foreign reader, might be too unfamiliar for the foreign reader to have the same imagery and experience as the native reader. 

Danielle