Hearing Voices- Allen

  I found the passage about “community of voices” the most interesting. When translating a passage written in the Tokushima dialect, the author mentioned that, “I inadvertently found myself brushing up against voices from my past--an elderly beekeeper, the dulcimer-maker, my own grandfather.” The point was that the style a translator writes in is a direct reflection of the translator’s voice and the translator’s community’s voices. When translating, perhaps we are limited by the words used by our acquaintances and ourselves. The author then mentions turning to Mrs. Akiko Hayashi for assistant, and that her translation embodied the voice of Mrs. Hayashi. This is interesting because if the author had talked to someone else instead of Mrs. Hayashi, I’m sure the translation would have turned out very differently. Therefore, I think the best way to translate when one doesn’t understand a dialect is to consult many people to get a wide range of voices and perspectives. 

One other point that captured my attention was the editorial’s influence to make the translation more friendly toward a broad audience. The point that, “A translated book, regardless of how “exotic” the subject matter may be, should read as if it were originally produced in English,” stood out to me. It made me think what would be sacrificed to make the text natural in English like omitting many details important to Japanese culture.