Hearing Voices - Danielle

Just like most of the other readings, a key take-away from this article is the idea that there is no one correct way to translate, but the passage below stood out to me:

"Words are metaphors after all, place holders for meanings that are conditioned by context. What we translate, the way we read, see, interpret is already informed by our readerly experience, by the voices we are taught to hear. Just as we are taught to accept tastes, to develop a palate that distinguishes flavors and distinguishes the tasty from the tasteless, we are taught to read, to impart meaning, to evaluate, to accept" (141-142)

Throughout the passage, it was this concept that resonated with me. Almost everything we do is shaped by the culture around us and the society we live in, so of course the same can be said about how we produce and interpret language. Translators usually have to work extra hard in order to hear these voices in more than one language. When a language is not native to you, it takes a great deal of practice and exposure to understand both the culture and the literature in the unknown language. This understanding is crucial to the author's idea of listening to the voices in works, for each language has its own way of conveying certain meanings and connotations that cannot directly translate, only equivalate, in the target language.