On Translating (Even if You Don't Speak Another Language)
You’ll be acquiring an influence far more likely to be benign than oppressive.
I have shingles.
Minorly, and not in an eyesight-endangering spot.
But I thought you should know.
Shingles one of those comedic-sounding ailments, like lumbago, that is hard to take seriously — even when you’ve got it.
Right now, it feels like someone is gently tapping me on the shoulder again and again.
Maybe it is one of the friendly ghosts of the desk, trying to get my attention, or to distract me.
Look, it’s snowing outside.
Anyway, energy levels are low. Thankfully, Ollie Fern over on threads got in touch with another suggestion — along with copying out Moby Dick by hand — of a way to learn very intensely from another writer.
I would add… translating your favourite works... Getting close to the text and thinking of ways to impart its essence without losing anything in the new language. Then comparing your work with other translators - seeing what decisions they made, questioning them.
This is far more active than copying, and far closer to doing a brand new piece of writing yourself.
Translations, too, are brand new pieces of writing, but they’re secondary rather than primary. And, as Ollie points out, there can be multiple translations of the same text.
Even if your knowledge of another language is non-existent to poor, I think this is a wonderful thing to try — with as many technological aids as you can bring to the party.
Going for Google translate straight away would be premature. But using online dictionaries to find equivalents and then synonyms, word by word, will really open up an original text. In a way, the more you have to piece your version together, one element at a time, the more closely you’ll be paying attention. You’ll be acquiring an influence that is far more likely to be benign than oppressive.
Another suggestion is to pick a translation of a story by a writer whose manner you already know. You can then try to find your way back to their original version, sensing which choices they would most likely have made.
Did they go for the plain or the fruity word? Was their sentence structure paralleled by the translator, or did they have to tie or untie some knots? Has their meaning been simplified or their irony lost? Or perhaps, has their meaning been augmented and their irony deepened?
This is something good to try when you feel regrettably stuck, or you’ve had a break from writing and want to find a gentle way back in. You can always break off and begin your own primary work if it starts to speak again.
I just looked over my shoulder.
It’s stopped snowing.
p.s.
As well as being on threads (@toby_litt), and Instagram (@toby_litt), you can also track me down on twitter/X (@tobylitt), bluesky (tobylitt.bsky.social) and Facebook (tobylitt).