什么是好的翻譯？中英互譯

Totheoutsideworld,literarytranslatorsarefamouslyinvisible.Beingatight-knitcommunityofsolitaryhomeworkers,though,wetalkalotamongstourselves.Recently,onebigthingwe’vebeentalkingaboutisreviewsofourwork.Ascriticscometonoticeourexistence,wegarnerbothpraiseand–inwhatfeelslikegreaterdepth–criticism.SoIthoughtitmightbeusefulto

askotherliterarytranslatorswhattheyaimfor,whatpositivecriteriawehaveforjudgingtheoutcomeofourwork.Iwasnotdisappointed.It’seasytosaywhatabadtranslationis.Theonesthatareaccidentallyjaggedlikethepersonwieldingthescissorswasdrunk.Theoneswheresomeonehasmisunderstoodtheoriginal,orperhapsmisinterpretedit.Theoneswhereallindividualityhasbeensmoothedout.But

howdoweidentifyasuccessfultranslation?Whenhavewedoneourjobwell?Whatisitwewanttoachieve,beyondmerefluidity?WhatIsaGoodTranslation?1DavidColmer(translatesfromDutchtoEnglish)Fluidityisnottobesneezedat,andisoftendifficulttoaccomplish,butagoodtranslationgoesfurtherandachievestheself-evidenceandurgencyoftheoriginal.Itsings,whispersandswearsliketheoriginalandleavesthereaderthrilled,disturbedandamusedinthesamewaystoo.Asensitivemonolingualreviewerdescribesthestyleofagoodtranslationintermsthatunknowinglyechothereviewsoftheoriginalnovelorpoetry.Agoodtranslationdoesnothavetobeimpeccablystarchedandironed,butdarestoberaggedandfranticwhenappropriate.

Whenpresentedwithafewlinesoforiginalandtranslation,abilingualreadermightnotbesurewhichiswhich.

ThevoiceofagoodtranslationisasdistinctiveinEnglishastheauthor’svoiceintheoriginallanguage,alsowhencomparedtootherauthorstranslatedbythesametranslator.AgoodtranslationacceptsthegiftsEnglishoffersandisnotanendlessprocessionofcompromiseandloss.

Agoodtranslationissomethingtoaspiretoand,inthisperfectionist’sprofession,agoodtranslationisnevergoodenough.首先，流暢度是不容忽視的。譯文達(dá)到流暢的水平很難。但好的翻譯會(huì)更進(jìn)一步，實(shí)現(xiàn)原作不證自明的清晰與下筆時(shí)的緊迫感。好的翻譯會(huì)還原原作的語感，讀者能感到它在歌唱、呢喃或咒罵，并為之興奮、不安或開懷。一位敏銳的單語評(píng)論家形容對(duì)好的翻譯作品的評(píng)論是能夠與原作的評(píng)論相互呼應(yīng)的。好的翻譯不是無可挑剔地拘泥刻板、齊齊整整，而是適當(dāng)時(shí)候敢于表現(xiàn)得粗糙和狂放。當(dāng)譯文與原文同時(shí)出現(xiàn)在雙語讀者前時(shí)，好的翻譯應(yīng)當(dāng)讓讀者分辨不出哪個(gè)是原文，哪個(gè)是譯文。譯者具有辨識(shí)力的聲音應(yīng)該留存于優(yōu)秀的譯文文本中，正如原文中作者的聲音一樣。且在這個(gè)譯者翻譯其他作品時(shí)，也能看得出其風(fēng)格。好的翻譯會(huì)接受譯文語言的饋贈(zèng)，且翻譯的過程不是無盡的妥協(xié)與損失。我們都應(yīng)追求好的翻譯，在這個(gè)完美主義者的行當(dāng)中，好的翻譯永遠(yuǎn)都不夠好。2AlexZucker(translatesfromCzechtoEnglish)Towriteagoodtranslation,atacertainpointIhavetoforgetthetextI’mtranslatingexists.

OnlythencanIreadmytranslationwithout“seeingthroughit”theforeign-languagetext“underneath”–thatis,thewayvirtuallyeveryoneelsewhoreadsmytranslationisgoingtoread(andassess)it.Beyondthat,Idon’tagreethatfluidityisnecessarilyalwaysagoal.

Agoodtranslationrespectsand,therefore,reflectstheauthor’sstyleandvocabulary:Wheretheauthor’swritingischoppy,mineshouldalsobe.Whereit’sharshorstiltedoropaque,orlyricalandflowing,orunambiguous,mywritingshouldbetoo.Whentheauthorconformstoconvention,soshouldI;whentheybendorbreakit,Ineedtodothesame.Thisassumestheauthorintendedtheseeffects.Ontheotherhand,itcanhappenthatanauthor’swritingcomesacrossasawkwardwheninfactitwasaresultofpoor(ornon-existent)editing,ratherthanadeliberatestyle.Thisiswhereitcangettricky.Weallknowbynow,Ihope,thatthisdoesn’tmeaneverysinglewordorphraseinmytranslationmustpreciselycorrespondinstyleandeffecttoacounterpartintheauthor’stext.ButitdoesmeanthatIdon’thavethelibertytowritea“strange”workwhentheauthor’swas“normal”,or“normalise”thewritingwhentheauthormeanttobeunorthodox.IfIdo,theresultmaystillbe“good”,butratherthanatranslation,itmightbemoreaccuratetocallitanadaptation.做出好的翻譯，某種程度上我要忘記原文的存在。只有當(dāng)我自己在閱讀譯文時(shí)都可以忘記那譯文底下的另一種語言，讀者才能做到這樣。以及，我并不承認(rèn)流利是翻譯的目的。好的翻譯尊重并如實(shí)反映原文作者的風(fēng)格與用詞。當(dāng)一位作者的寫作是支離破碎的，我的譯文也應(yīng)當(dāng)是這樣。原文作者的寫作風(fēng)格可能是刺耳、生硬、晦澀的，亦或抒情流暢、毫不含糊的，那么我的譯文也應(yīng)該做到這些。原文的作者可能遵循傳統(tǒng)，我便也遵循傳統(tǒng)；當(dāng)他們彎曲或者打破程式，我也隨之打破。當(dāng)然前提是，作者預(yù)料到了這些后果。另一方面，如下的情況也可能發(fā)生：一位作者的寫作由于拙劣的編輯過程顯得很尷尬，而非作者本人有意為之的風(fēng)格。這就是問題的棘手之處了。正如我們目前所知的，我說的并不意味著我的譯文中每一個(gè)詞句在風(fēng)格和效果上都要與原文的文本對(duì)應(yīng)。我的意思是，當(dāng)原作者的寫作很普通，或者原作者就打算循規(guī)蹈矩地寫出非正統(tǒng)的東西時(shí)，譯者是無權(quán)譯出一本“奇怪”的作品的。如果我作為譯者真的這么做了，可能結(jié)果仍然是很好的，但我就不會(huì)說我在做翻譯了，可能說是‘改編’更準(zhǔn)確。3RosSchwartz(translatesfromFrenchtoEnglish)Agoodtranslationcapturesthespiritofatextwithoutslavishlyfollowingittotheletter.

Itcapturestheenergyandtextureandvoiceofthesourcetextandreplicatestheminthetranslation,drawingonalltheresourcesofthetargetlanguage.Agoodtranslationconveyswhatiswrittenbetweenthelines.Agoodtranslationexudesempathy.Agoodtranslationelicitsthesameemotionalresponseinthereaderasthesourcetextdoesinitsreaders.Agoodtranslationdoesn’tcolonisetheworkbutpreservesthejoysandbeautiesofits“otherness”withoutresortingtoweirdforeignisation.Agoodtranslationperfectlyresolvesthetensionbetweenmeaningandmusic,andthatofbeingsource-textorientedandtarget-readeroriented.

Agoodtranslationisboldandcreative,agoodtranslationsings.好的翻譯無需死板地逐字翻譯，就能捕捉到原文的神韻。它能捕捉到原文文本中的能量、紋理和聲音，并動(dòng)用譯文語言中的一切資源，將這些逐一在譯文中呈現(xiàn)。好的翻譯能夠傳遞出字里行間的意蘊(yùn)，并流露出譯者的共情；這樣的翻譯能夠像原文引出讀者恰當(dāng)?shù)那楦蟹磻?yīng)那樣引出譯文讀者的情感反應(yīng)。好的翻譯不會(huì)對(duì)作品進(jìn)行殖民，不用訴諸奇怪的異國化也能保存其‘他者性’之美；好的翻譯完美地疏解了意義與樂音間的張力，即‘文本中心論’還是‘讀者中心論’。好的翻譯是大膽而創(chuàng)新的，猶在歌唱。4AntoniaLloyd-Jones(translatesfromPolishtoEnglish)Agoodtranslationisimperceptible.Itreadsasifthebookwerewritteninthelanguageintowhichithasbeentranslated.

Withinthetext,thetranslatorisinvisible.Agoodtranslationremovesthebarrierimposedbyanunfamiliarlanguageandallowsthewritertocommunicatedirectlywiththeforeignreader.好的翻譯是不留痕跡的，讀來好像這本書本來就是譯文語言所寫就的。在文本中，譯者是無形的。好的翻譯會(huì)去除陌生語言的障礙，使得作者能與外國讀者直接進(jìn)行交流。Agoodtranslationdoesn’tsimplyreproducethecorrectmeaningoftheoriginaltext.Italsocapturesthevoiceandmusicoftheoriginalasthewriterintendedittobeheard,andreproducesitinawaythatisaudibletothenew,foreignreader.

Itissensitivetothemeaning,effectsandintentionsoftheoriginal,butalsotothebestwaystorendertheminthetargetlanguage.好的翻譯不僅僅是重現(xiàn)原文正確的語義，它還能捕捉到原文作者想要傳達(dá)的聲音與樂音，并以外國讀者能夠聽懂的方式再現(xiàn)。它能夠敏銳地察覺到語義、語言效果及原作者的意圖，更懂得如何將這些以最佳的方式在被翻譯的語言中呈現(xiàn)。Insomeinstances,achievingthataimcanmeanmovingawayfromtheliteralmeaningoftheoriginal.Thisisprobablytruerfortranslationfromsomelanguagesthanothers;perhapsfortranslatorsintoEnglish,languagesoutsidetheIndo-Europeangroupwillneedadifferentapproachfromlanguagesthatbelongtoit.Differentgenresortranslatingforchildrencanalsohavedifferentrequirements.So

whileagoodtranslationistruetotheoriginalmeaningtheauthorwantstoconvey,itisn’tstraitjacketedbytheliteralmeaningoftheoriginaltext.在某些情況下，實(shí)現(xiàn)這個(gè)目的可能意味著要將原文的字面意思抹去。在某些語言的翻譯中更為如此。因?yàn)榛蛟S對(duì)于那些將其他語言譯成英文的譯者來說，印歐語系之外的語言翻譯的方法與印歐語系之內(nèi)的并不相同。面對(duì)不同的種類或者不同讀者，例如給兒童讀者翻譯，則也有不同的要求。所以盡管說一個(gè)好的翻譯是忠于原文的，但它不為原文的字面意思所束縛。Agoodtranslationalsorecognisestheoriginalwriter’sstyleandvoice,buttoconveythemtotheforeignreaderinkeepingwiththewriter’sintentions,thetranslatormightneedtoretunethemslightly,usingdifferenttechniques.

Thisisparticularlytrueofpoetry,orofprosethatislyricalanddependentonrhythmorsound.好的翻譯能夠識(shí)別出原文作者的風(fēng)格特點(diǎn)，在遵守作者意圖的同時(shí)將其傳達(dá)給外國讀者。當(dāng)然，譯者在其中可能需要運(yùn)用不同的翻譯技巧輕微調(diào)試一下。這一點(diǎn)對(duì)于抒情性的、依賴韻律與聲音的詩歌和散文尤為重要。5SandraHetzl(translatesfromArabictoGerman)Tomeagoodtranslationisonewhereyoualmostcan’tbelievewhatyou’rereadingwastranslated,fromsomethingintosomething,fromsomewheretosomewhere–islanguageaplace,orisitratherathing?Onewhereyoualmostcan’tbelieveitwasbroughtfromsomewheretosomewhere.Thatitwasunboxed,thenhastilytransported,ashapeless,unprotectedsomething,andcarefullyputintonewboxes.WhichmakesitsoundlikeIsustainthetheorythat

agoodtranslationissomesortofahoax.對(duì)我來說，人們讀到好的翻譯時(shí)，是察覺不出它是譯文的，察覺不出這種從一個(gè)事物到另一事物的轉(zhuǎn)換、從一個(gè)地方移動(dòng)到另一個(gè)地方——語言到底是一個(gè)區(qū)域，還是某種事物呢？總之你不會(huì)相信它是從某地移動(dòng)到某地的，它從箱子中取出，急匆匆地運(yùn)往另一個(gè)地方，這個(gè)無形的、也不受保護(hù)的東西就這么被小心翼翼地放到了另一個(gè)盒子里。這聽起來似乎是我堅(jiān)信的那一套理論：好的翻譯就是一場(chǎng)騙局。6SaskiaVogel(translatedfromSwedishtoEnglish)Isupposeagoodtranslationisagoodpieceofwritingandshouldhaveallthemarkersofthose.

Personally,Iappreciatemusicalityinatextandanabilitytocarrythroughthefeelingofeachline:thosesubtleshifts,forexample,whenattheendofaparagraphawell-placedwordorphraseelicitsalaugh,anoteoftragedyorirony.Iftextsaren’tmusicalinsomeway(cacophonousandmelodicalike),IfindthatIammorecriticalofthetranslation.Iwondertowhatextentagoodtranslationisn’talsoaboutabeinggoodfitwiththetranslator.IthinkabouttextswhereI’vehadtolabourperhapstoomuchtomakethevoicefeelauthentictotheauthor’s,andIcanthinkthatperhapsIwasn’tagoodfitforthattext.Ithink(hope)thishassomethingtodowithexperience.ThetextsI’mthinkingofwereearlyoninmycareer,whichmightbringmetomyanswerforwhatagoodtranslationis:

Whenthetranslatorfeelscomfortableenoughwiththetexttotreatitastheirown–allthewhilekeepingtheauthor’smusic,tone,emotion,voice,etc.,insight–andisabletocreate(ortranscreate?)apieceofwritingthatfeelsliketheoriginalandcarriestheoriginalthroughtothereader,howevermuchthetranslatorhasstayedfaithfultoordepartedfromtheoriginaltext.

Whentranslationsdon’tfeelliketheyhavebeenwritten–wherethereaderbecomestooawareofthemechanicsofthewriting–andsimply‘a(chǎn)re’that’swhenthey’regood.Ifearthisallsoundsterriblyvague,andsoIthinkofdancingandreturntowhatyoubroughtupfirst:whenyouseesomeonecompetentlydoingthestepsbutnotbridgingtechniqueandfeeling,versusthedancerjustbeingintheflow.Flowiscaptivatingandgenerousinthatitallowsforallsortsofimperfectionsaswearebeingsweptalonginthemomentandmovement.我想好的翻譯同時(shí)也是好的寫作，并且擁有這兩者的標(biāo)志。個(gè)人而言，我欣賞文本的樂音感及在每一行文字中攜帶這種樂音的能力。有時(shí)這表現(xiàn)為微妙的轉(zhuǎn)折：比如，自然段結(jié)尾處恰到好處某個(gè)詞或詞組會(huì)引人發(fā)笑、令人悲哀或感到荒誕。如果文字本身沒有樂音感，我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己對(duì)翻譯會(huì)更加苛刻。有時(shí)我會(huì)思考，好的翻譯應(yīng)該不僅僅是與譯者合拍。我想起那些我需要費(fèi)很大力氣才能與作者的聲音對(duì)應(yīng)起來的文本，也許我與它們不太合拍。我認(rèn)為（希望）這是與個(gè)人經(jīng)歷有關(guān)。我想到的這些文本在我職業(yè)生涯的早期出現(xiàn)，現(xiàn)在我可以回答到底什么才是好的翻譯了：當(dāng)譯者能夠較為舒適地處理文本，就像面對(duì)自己的文字那么舒適——同時(shí)保留原作者的樂音、語氣、情感、聲音等等，以及能夠創(chuàng)作出一段與原文相似的、保留原文意蘊(yùn)的文本（姑且不論譯者是否已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)離了原文）。當(dāng)譯文不像是被寫出來的，讀者看得出來翻譯的痕跡時(shí)……我想我還是說得太模糊了。還是拿舞蹈來打比喻吧，回到你之前的問題。兩者的區(qū)別就像是你看到一個(gè)只是做動(dòng)作而完全沒有將技巧和感受聯(lián)結(jié)起來的舞者與另一個(gè)一直處在流動(dòng)狀態(tài)的舞者的區(qū)別。這種流動(dòng)狀態(tài)是令人著迷的，并且很慷慨，因?yàn)樗菰S各種各樣的不完美發(fā)生，我們只是被時(shí)間和動(dòng)作裹挾其中。7JuliaSherwood(translatesfromSlovaktoEnglish)Formeagoodtranslationisonethatisonthesamewavelengthastheoriginaltext–apieceofmusicthathasbeenarrangedfordifferentinstrumentsbutevokesanemotionalresponseasclosetotheeffectoftheoriginalaspossiblegivenadifferentculturalbackgroundandreferences.

Oragoulashorasoufflépreparedfromlocallyavailableingredientsthatcomesoutwithatextureasstodgyorfluffyandthatburnsyourpalateorticklesyourtastebudsinthesamewayastheoriginal.在我看來，好的譯文是與原文在同一個(gè)波長(zhǎng)上的，是被不同的樂器演奏的同一段音樂，即使是在與原文不同的文化背景下，也仍能引發(fā)相似的情感共鳴?；蛘哒f，像是使用當(dāng)?shù)氐呐淞吓腼兌傻臒跖Ｈ饣蛩制ぃ滟|(zhì)地或粗糙或松軟，都使你的味蕾像感受原來的配方時(shí)那樣騷動(dòng)。8SamBett(translatesfromJapanesetoEnglish)Agoodtranslationwantstoberead.

Itscleversolutionswillkeeptothesurface,nomoreconspicuousthantheslipperythingstheyventuretoapproximate.Thestrengthsandcuriositiesofthesourcewilldaretobepresentalongsideitsdullerpointsandweaknesses,butallwillhavebeenreimagined,naturallyandeffectively,ataremovefromtherulesoftheoriginalstyle.好的譯文渴望被閱讀。它聰明的地方顯而易見，和譯者們冒險(xiǎn)含糊了事的那些部分一樣明顯。原文的精彩之處也可能和它無聊乏味的地方并列，但這些都需要（譯者）從原文的風(fēng)格中解放出來，重新想象。9SophieLewis(translatesfromFrenchandPortuguesetoEnglish)Ithinkit’saboutanear-magicalbalance

beingstruckbetweenchannellingthetranslator’sperceivedideaofthetext’soriginalsoundandintentionanditsre-enactmentthroughthetranslator’sownvoice,

thewaytheypersonallywouldexpressthesestylesandideas.It’saboutthecarefulandalwaysconsiderateminglingofthesetwoimpulsesorperceptions–whichmeansyoucan’talwaystellthatyou’rereadingagoodtranslation!Thenatureoftheanimalisthatyoucan’tbesuretoidentifyitassuch,thoughyoumayhaveagoodfeelingaboutit.我認(rèn)為（好的翻譯）是一種近乎魔術(shù)般的平衡，譯者理解下的原文的聲音和意圖與譯者以自己的聲音對(duì)這些進(jìn)行的再現(xiàn)之間的平衡，他們會(huì)從個(gè)人角度來表達(dá)原文的風(fēng)格和語義。所以好的翻譯其實(shí)在于小心行事，并能夠體會(huì)到這兩種不同脈搏和感受之間的混雜——即你有時(shí)候不能分辨你在讀的是不是譯文。動(dòng)物的天性就是，你可能無法對(duì)某個(gè)事物下一個(gè)百分百的定義，但你有很強(qiáng)的直覺。10DavidBoyd(translatesfromJapanesetoEnglish)Agoodtranslationhums.Itlivesintheear.Itshattersourexpectations,redefiningwhattranslationcandointhefirstplace.好的譯文會(huì)在你耳中嗡嗡作響。它動(dòng)搖我們的期待，并重新定義翻譯所能完成的任務(wù)。Whenyoureadagoodtranslation,theusuallabels(literalvsliberal,etc.)quicklylosetheirvalue.

Greattranslationsmakeitpainfullyclearthatwelackthecriticallanguagenecessarytotalkabouttranslationasanart,onitsownterms.當(dāng)你讀到一個(gè)好的翻譯，平常的那些標(biāo)簽或分類，比如意譯或者直譯之類的，都黯然失色。好的翻譯會(huì)讓我們痛苦而直觀地感受到，我們?nèi)鄙倜枋龇g這門藝術(shù)的語言。Thislackofcriticalclarityisexactlywhatmakesyourquestionsuchahardone.ToborrowfromPotterStewart,weknowagoodtranslationwhenweseeit,right?Complicatingmattersfurther,

eachgoodtranslationisgoodinitsownway.Ihopethatdoesn’treadlikeacop-out.Ithinkit’strue.

Thegoodonesmakeusseetranslationinanewway.這種語言的匱乏讓你的問題變得很難回答。借用波特·斯圖爾特的話，當(dāng)看到好的翻譯時(shí)，我們就會(huì)知道。對(duì)嗎？如果進(jìn)一步把問題復(fù)雜化，每個(gè)好的翻譯都有它們的妙處。我希望這讀起來不像是個(gè)蹩腳的理由。因?yàn)槲艺娴倪@么想，好的翻譯能夠讓我們以嶄新的方式來看待翻譯這回事。WhyDoesItMatter?Recently,ChadPostwroteanentertainingpieceaboutreviewingtranslations,arguingwithhimselfintherolesoftranslationadvocateandreviewer.Whatmademesitupandthinkwasthispassage,inthevoiceofPost’sinnerunderpaidcritic:Deepdivesintotranslationtheoryandhowtoreproducealanguage’ssyntaxinEnglishare100%guaranteesofboringthepissoutofageneralreader.[...]Thereare,what?,20,000readersofliteraryfictionoutthere?And,let’sbehonest,thetranslationswe’retalkingaboutareworksofliterature,notspynovelsorromancesorwhatever.Ofthose20,000readers,probably500orsoreadactualbookreviews.Ifyouwantthesereviewstobepromotionaltoolsforinternationalliterature,weneedtoupthatnumber.Andtoupthatnumber,

wehavetofocusonwhatreaderswant:plotdescriptions,informationaboutwhatmakesabookunique,whyit’sworthreadingandwhataboutitmightnotworkforeveryone.Andyouknowwhat?He’sgotapoint.Justliketranslators,criticsworkunderconstraints.

Igenuinelybelieveitispossibletoidentifyhallmarksofsuccessfultranslations–liketransferringhumourandwordplay,recreatingcadenceandrhythm,preservingastrongsenseofplace,andallthethingsmycolleagueshavepointedoutabove.

Butmaybedoingthatrequiresanextramentalshift,anextralayerofthoughttoworkoutwhatexactlythetranslatorhasdonehere,andwhichaspectsareentirelytheauthor’sdoing.Andmaybeifyou’rebeingpaidapittanceandallyouwanttodoisencouragereaderstobuyabook,ortellthemwhyyouthinktheyshouldn’tbother,thatshiftisn’tworththeeffort.Icanseethat.Forusastranslators,though,Ithinkit’sextremelyimportant.

Weneedrolemodels,weneedsomethingtostrivefor–andweneedtofindwaystodefinegoodworkthatgobeyondthenegative.

AsDavidBoydputsit,goodtranslationsmakeusseetranslationinanewway;theycanshakeusoutofcomplacency,encourageustotrynewthings.OneofthethingsIloveaboutliterarytranslationis,asDavidColmerpointsout,thatit’sajobforperfectionists,foreverreachingfortheimpossible,orthe“hoax”asSandraHetzlcallsit.

It’saprofessionforoptimists.Muchofourworktakesplaceonanintuitivelevel,readingverydeeplyandthenwritingourownversionofatext,sometimeslessconsciousofthechoiceswemakethanclosereadersmightbe,atleastinourfirstdraft.Hence,Isuspect,someofthelanguageweusetoexplainwhatwe’retryingfor:dancing,cooking,music,somethingnear-magicalandnear-invisible.Theseareallusefulmetaphors.But

ifwe’retocontinueourstrivingandpassitontonewgenerations,Ithinkit’salsohelpfultofindexamplesofgoodtranslationsandinvestigatewhatitistheydowell.Letmetellyouaboutacoupleofmyrolemodels.

ChristinaMacSweeney’sEnglishversionof

TheStoryofMyTeeth

byValeriaLuiselli

absolutelysparkleswithwit.Shegivesusastrong,consistentandfunnyvoiceandfindstrulyinnovativewaystohelpherreadersunderstandthenovel’scontext,addingawholeextrachapterofherown.

BreonMitchell’stranslationof

TheTinDrum

byGünterGrass

does,whatDavidColmermentions,embracethegiftsoftheEnglishlanguage’shugevocabulary,whiledeftlywranglingGrass’windingsentences.Irecentlyadmired

SusanBernofsky’sEnglishtranslationof

MemoirsofaPolarBear

byYokoTawada,whichreallycapturesthestrangenessofaSovietpolarbearwritingherlifestory,usingamixofslightlystiltedandcolloquiallanguageandagainchoosingherwordswithgreatjoy.Forme,thisisalsoanexampleof