tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34496910.post2003932686390870715..comments2023-11-02T05:39:15.915-04:00Comments on José Martí Blog: Chinese Translation of "Yo soy un hombre sincero"Manuel A.Tellecheahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08637085685599554349noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34496910.post-21627697568749422542014-12-18T21:35:11.740-05:002014-12-18T21:35:11.740-05:00Vana:
I think you would be interested in this. I ...Vana:<br /><br />I think you would be interested in this. I just posted it today:<br /><br /><a href="http://manueltellechea.blogspot.com/2014/02/the-lives-grandfather-saved-or-tried-to.html" rel="nofollow">The Lives Grandfather Saved or Tried to Save</a>Manuel A.Tellecheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637085685599554349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34496910.post-48841462136016900472014-12-03T00:05:21.438-05:002014-12-03T00:05:21.438-05:00Manuel:
Beautiful quote, indeed it would be the g...Manuel:<br /><br />Beautiful quote, indeed it would be the gift of angels.<br /><br />Thank you my friend, your words always move me, like a gem or a flower.Vanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08340793573089792646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34496910.post-50037540394021876382014-12-02T22:37:51.777-05:002014-12-02T22:37:51.777-05:00Vana:
I though you might enjoy this quote from th...Vana:<br /><br />I though you might enjoy this quote from the Scottish philosopher George MacDonald (1824-1905), which is so much in the spirit of Martí:<br /><br /><i>"If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give."</i><br /><br />http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_macdonald.htmlManuel A.Tellecheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637085685599554349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34496910.post-86875627839339936872014-12-01T13:59:37.957-05:002014-12-01T13:59:37.957-05:00Manuel:
The Chinese must recognize that transla...Manuel: <br /><br />The Chinese must recognize that translating the words of the Apostle is meaningful, therefore the attempt, wish they would have done them justice.<br /><br />You gave me a chuckle with the idea of learning Chinese, at this time in our lives it would not be an easy feat. <br /><br />Thanks my friend.Vanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08340793573089792646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34496910.post-50918112975162115662014-11-30T00:41:08.754-05:002014-11-30T00:41:08.754-05:00Vana:
From hours of searching the internet I have...Vana:<br /><br />From hours of searching the internet I have come to the conclusion that all translations of Martí's <i>Versos sencillos</i> undertaken since 1997 (when my own English translation was published) have used my version not only as a model but in preference to the original. I know this for a fact because all foreign translators reproduce my English version alongside their own and credit me accordingly. The reason, I suppose, that my translation is used as the basis for other translations is that English, not Spanish, is the lingua franca of the 21st century. There are surely a myriad times more speakers of English in China than of Spanish, and the same holds true everywhere else in the world, though the disparity may not be quite as staggering as in China. <br /><br />It is highly gratifying to me that my translation has contributed to the greater diffusion of Martí's works not only in the English-speaking world, as was my hope, but also far beyond.<br /><br />Knowing, then, the responsibility that I bear for the accuracy of my English translation, I have re-translated my English version back into Spanish using the Google Translator, and the resulting version is identical to the original except for the lost rhyme.<br /><br />So, like you, I am inclined to think that this Chinese rendering did not suffer too much by translating my English version of the poem into Chinese.<br /><br />The wide discrepancies between the two translations are due, perhaps, to our inability to "tap" into the Chinese language, and not so much the Chinese translator's deficiencies in English or Spanish. The only way to know for sure is for me to learn Chinese, and I'm afraid that there isn't room left in my head to accommodate much a feat without displacing vital information that I may never be able to assimilate again. <br /><br />So this mystery, which, I'm afraid, interests only us, will remain as inscrutable as much of this Chinese "re-interpretation" of "Yo soy un hombre sincero."Manuel A.Tellecheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637085685599554349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34496910.post-25364196253446229452014-11-29T22:08:22.925-05:002014-11-29T22:08:22.925-05:00Manuel:
I swear I'm still laughing at this at...Manuel:<br /><br />I swear I'm still laughing at this attempt by the Chinese, right you are when you say- they should have used the original, but your own translation is spot on, hump, hahaha, bet you after they were done with this translation, they stood there scratching their heads.<br /><br />Thank you my friend, I got a kick out of this one.Vanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08340793573089792646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34496910.post-75724537618287533152014-11-29T07:28:45.430-05:002014-11-29T07:28:45.430-05:00Vana:
I am hoping that it was the re-translation ...Vana:<br /><br />I am hoping that it was the re-translation from the Chinese to English that accounts for most of these misreadings. I might point out, also, that the Chinese translator admittedly did not use Martí's Spanish version to translate the poem, but worked from my own English translation. It is not the best course to use the back of a tapestry as your model when weaving a copy of the original. If it is available, use the original as your starting point and do not resort to any other translation unless you are in doubt about the meaning; but if your own translation differs markedly from those of others, stop to consider what is the most reasonable choice. If "King Kong" crops up in your translation — which apart from its inappropriateness is also an anachronistic allusion (Martí having died 38 years before King Kong was introduced in the movie of that name) — then consider whether you really want the Beast to Kill Beauty in this poem. Other errors may be more excusable. There might be only one pictograph in Chinese for both "palm" and "coconut," and I bet that Cubans today wished that our country were indeed "the land where 'coconuts' grow." But, as Martí, said: "The wine of the palm tree is bitter, but it is our wine."<br /><br />The funniest unintentional error is found in the last stanza. In the original, Martí writes that he will hang his doctoral hood from a withered tree branch, meaning that he is not going to write academic poetry but the kind that is natural, heartfelt and spontaneous. In the Chinese translation, however, Martí takes off much more than his doctoral hood: "I will take off Dr. clothes, hang it from a withered tree." Thus is Martí turned into more of a "naturalist" than he actually was, a new Adam more reminiscent of Walt Whitman than our poet.<br /><br />One stanza is translated to my liking: "I will once step in all over the country,//from now on also wander the four directions,//in thousand songs I will be a tune,//in ten thousand peaks I was a hump." Here everything goes more or less well till the very last word ("hump").Manuel A.Tellecheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637085685599554349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34496910.post-2131537070418517852014-11-28T18:46:31.637-05:002014-11-28T18:46:31.637-05:00Manuel:
King Kong? Coconut? this is laughable my ...Manuel:<br /><br />King Kong? Coconut? this is laughable my friend, the whole thing is a garbled mess! Poor Marti, the Chinese destroyed his verses. Though as you said they did justice to Cultivo una Rosa Blanca, this one leaves a bitter aftertaste.<br /><br />Vanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08340793573089792646noreply@blogger.com