Oct 10, 2020
Online
Bitch Goddesses: Navigating the Weird in Translation
Bitch Goddesses: Navigating the Weird in Translation
When the source text is strange, what does a weird translation do to the target language? These challenges are multifaceted, and include translating texts that have queer voices, vulgar voices, voices from differently-abled characters, and voices that blend poetry and prose.
How do we navigate allowing the source language to affect the English? How to recognize English-language norms, while also allowing them to be altered by literary sensibilities or experiments in the source language? Finally, how do we find the balance to plant ourselves firmly BETWEEN, creating a convincing target text while being “faithful” to the strange intents of the author? We will discuss challenges we have faced translating texts with strange voices from Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, and Danish into English.
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Moderator
Rachael Daum translates from Serbian, Russian, and German. She received her MA from Indiana University, and her BA from the University of Rochester; she completed certificates in literary translation studies at both institutions. She currently lives and works in Cologne, Germany, and is ALTA’s Communication and Awards Manager.
Presenters
Kevin Gerry Dunn is a Spanish/English translator whose recent translations include Countersexual Manifesto by Paul B. Preciado (Columbia UP, 2018), Revealing Selves: Transgender Portraits from Argentina by Kike Arnal and Josefina Fernández (The New Press, 2018), and Easy Reading by Cristina Morales (PRH, forthcoming), for which he received a PEN/Heim grant. Adrian Minckley translates from Portuguese into English. Recent translations include works by Elvira Vigna, Tiago Ferro, and Márcia Barbieri. She lives on occupied Sandia Pueblo land. Sharon E. Rhodes translates Danish, Old English, and Latin literature into English. Her recent translations include extracts from Lesbian Fairytales about Men (Asymptote online, 2020) and The Seafarer. She is currently looking for an English-language publisher for Hanne Højgaard Viemose’s Danish novel HHV: Frshwn (Gyldendal, 2019).