WHAT DOES TRANSLATOR (Ç.E.V.İ.R.M.E.N.) STAND FOR?

A Light Answer to a Weighty Question

Yurdanur Salman

It Stands for Suffering (Ç – Çile)

Translators are ascetics. There must be masochism in their genes. Even though they have developed –sometimes- superior skills in reading-comprehending, interpreting and writing they do not choose more fulfilling endeavors such as being a life long reader, interpreter or writer they elect to pursue a career –that seems hardly smart- where they have to grapple with texts others have composed. The reason why they make this choice can only be explained by themselves –or psychiatrists.

It Stands for Toil (E – Emek)

This can also be construed as crawling on all fours.  This is because to gain the skills of translation one must grovel and crawl on the pages for a long time. Only he who has attempted to translate a single page of text can know exactly how enormous, long winded, painful and agonizing the labour of translation is – always leaving a feeling of deficiency and insufficiency in its wake. One should always be puzzled how and why translators translate –and not knock over!- long texts, thick books and creative texts. Since every labour has its positive or negative reward within our social order, translators expect –and sometimes find- some kind of reward as labourers perhaps needing the benediction of their readers or as God’s subjects who have dedicated themselves to making knowledge accessible. Otherwise their beautiful efforts will have been for naught.

It Stands for Instrument/Agent (V – Vasıta)

The translator in electing to be an instrument/agent is once again being very humble. The adage declares “Anyone can saddle a low ass,” but a translator who knows himself/herself is not low in that sense. Not all publishers can make the translator translate a book he/she does not want to. The translator chooses the texts which he/she will distill from his/her flesh and blood and strain from his/her beautiful mind; he/she interprets it in his/her own fashion and weaves it once more –organically- into another language. The cells of the brain, the nuclei of the cells, their DNA and smart genes run galloping to this task of transferring/conveying/processing. If they do not, the translator has not been a good instrument/agent/conductor. If he/she is translating literature, the translator must utilize the records in its older cells at full capacity, extend his/her nerve endings even further, increasing his/her vibrations, go crazy or almost go crazy from time to time but pull himself/herself together immediately afterwards. Writers and poets are persons already outside the norm. To achieve the same level of abandon but to be able to adjust it to the millimeter, to not indulge in an excess of abandon… these are skills not to be taken lightly. The translator wants to be just as playful, creative, crazy, colorful, contrary, extravagant, fine tuned, vigorous and sometimes a trickster as the writer and the poet but he/she must know his/her bounds. An instrument is just that: It has to know the measure of its intermediacy!

It stands for Work but Arduous Work (İ – İş)

A translator’s work is never done. The best thing is not to start the work at all but the translator –for whatever reason or in whatever manner- has started it. The writer deals with a single text; perhaps rewriting, shortening, lengthening, altering his/her text; he/she is the sole possessor of the text, the text is in his/her head or hand; he /she has the freedom to adjust the text to an exact dosage, to cut it where he/she wishes, to turn it from the bend he/she wished at the desired speed or discontinuity. The translator –if he/she has chosen him/her willingly- feels a fondness for his/her author, envies him/her; sometimes feels angry at him/her, but must still approach him/her with great respect!
The translator must follow his/her author without becoming his/her slave. He/she must be familiar, read all his/her works, and refer to resources that will help to explain the works. He/she has already suffered a lot in trying to learn the source language. And now he/she has embarked on an even more arduous path to unravel the original language of the author, the work. He/she proceeds –timidly- to manufacture his/her own text. This is the first struggle – and sometimes the first deep sigh of course! The style has not been grasped, the meaning has not been completely deciphered, and the vibrations are not being transmitted with the same subtlety! A break is called for; the air needs to be cleared. At this stage even a change of scenery may be required! Anyway, one must finish the work that has been started but also get it right. All these are the translator’s woes that not many people understand or could even guess at. In the meantime the translator’s face has grown pale, and this can only be noticed by those who love him/her the most –maybe his/her mother, sweetheart, bosom friends and such. Tormented by these woes the translator completes the translation of the text he/she has started, after several rewritings, thousands of corrections and fine tuning but in a much longer period of time than he/she estimated in the beginning. As he/she hands it in to his/her publisher he is somewhat destitute, apologetic – due to the feeling of ‘deficiency’ which he/she can never shake. The publisher immediately senses this and capitalizes on the opportunity to keep the translation royalties low or delaying the payment of the translation fee. Thus does translation bring such troubles on the translator in addition to the arduous task of translating the text. Yes, translation is a formidable task!

It Stands for being Disturbed (R – Rahatsızlık)

After completing a translation, the translator may feel the need for some relaxation because he/she is tired although he/she can never be filled with a feeling of ease –with respect to his/her translation. For days he/she suffers the discomfort of such regrets as, ‘I wish I had not used that word,’ ‘If only I had not finished that sentence like that,’ 'I wish I had made that final paragraph more striking,’ I wish I had written the “ah” as the character sighs with five h's instead of four,' 'I wish I had used the profanities without much censorship,' 'If only I had not brought the dosage of English humour to that of Turkish humour,' etc. When he/she upon laying his/her hands on the printed text he sees that the four h’s he used in writing the ‘ah’ has been reduced to two he/she comes to the brink of suicide, but somehow he/she gets through all that. He/she may even be persuaded by the same publishing house to translate a second book of the same author. And this is not understandable at all. Our translator is truly disturbed!

It Stands for Skill (M – Marifet)

The translator is expected to be eloquent* (*as signified by the Turkish phrase that means a tightrope walker in words.) If walking a tightrope means risking your life then the translator is risking his/her life for sure. Delving into long and profoundly meaningful texts requires boldness as well as the acquisition of various skills and abilities. These skills have been acquired slowly, by trial and error, by fits and starts, just like learning to dive in deep water without an aqualung If the translator has not developed these skills or acquired them at the required level it’s a simple matter for him/her to drown in the deeps or shoals of the text. Many a translator has been drowned –and brought his/her author down with him/her- for such reasons but since they have no tombstones with their names inscribed on it no one sends them a benediction or anything else – least of all excerpts from the texts they have smothered in meaninglessness. The meta-craft or meta-skill that can be developed by a translator is to know whether he/she has got it just right, to be able to taste the meal he/she has cooked – with an eye as cruel as his/her mother-in-law.

It Stands for Reaching (E – Erişmek)

All occupations require patience but translation –particularly translation of literature- is one where one prays for patience. Just like we admire Sisyphus for descending with the knowledge that he is to push the rock to the top once more, so do we admire the translator for returning to the translation of the text which he/she had abandoned – for whatever just or insane reason. He/she is determined, he/she has chosen his/her own fate, he/she must work with the patience of a saint - in fact he/she has reached the truths in the author’s text, the dosage of the style, the workings of the thousand and one devices of language and the 99th page- he/she has had his/her epiphany only now! At this point it would not do to abandon the text or slack off on the patience, the toil and the suffering. It has not been so easy to reach this knowledge in the first book, but such is the truth which the translator discovers about his/her self in the second, third, fourth books: ‘I have done it once, I can do it again. Maybe I can do it more easily. After all I have learned with experience how to do this job, that the sections that seem the most indecipherable can be deciphered with enough effort and that the longest texts that look like they will never finish do so one day. This is enough for me! I can reach the end of this text as well.’

It Stands for being Why (N – Neden)

Some people ask, ‘Why shouldn't I translate, I can speak a (foreign) language!' Most publishers ask people who speak foreign languages, ‘Why don’t you translate for us?’ Even some translators after submitting their latest book ask themselves, ‘Why do I translate?’ The interesting question is this last one –even though it seems meaningless- because there might be some use in one questioning –even if it is after everything has been said and done- the meaningful or meaningless tasks and jobs he/she has embarked on.  The translator will never be able to clearly answer the question of, ‘Why do I translate?’, but there is another question which he/she is expected to answer: ‘How/How much/How well do I translate?’ Naturally the question as to the criteria determining ‘good translation’ can come to mind here. These criteria are extremely difficult to pin down. Whatever the theory of translation states, the answer to this question is hidden in the reader of the translated text. How many readers the book has reached, and to what extent it has reached the readers it has reached can not be known either. For this reason as the translator carries on his/her arduous task he/she can not help but ask himself/herself ‘Why do I translate?’

A QUALIFIED TRANSLATOR

The quest for qualified translation and the "Association of Translation"

Hasan Anamur

The articles penned by Tuncay Birkan titled “It is Poor Publishing that is in fact responsible for Poor Translation” and by Işık Ergüden titled “Exploitation of the Translator and Publishing” both of which were published in the September 2002 issue of Virgül brought up serious issues commonly encountered in our country, particularly in the translation of literary and corporate works. In fact it is observed that publishers make an essential mistake in handing even the most significant works –for various reasons, the most common of which is their excessive frugality- to persons claiming to speak two languages one of which being Turkish, rather than to qualified translators who have received an education in translation or who have grasped the facts through years of experience. Whereas in the translation departments of our universities students are taught -hopefully- in their very first class that the languages used in translation are merely tools as are the hands of a pianist. Just the way not everyone with two hands can play the piano, and will create discordant sounds when he tries to do so, not everyone who is bilingual can translate solely by virtue of being bilingual. Translation requires an infrastructure based on a sound background of knowledge, a consistent method, vast experience and a skill in articulation that equals the author that is to be translated. Otherwise as Schlegel points out the phenomenon of translation turns into a duel to the death that ultimately leads to the annihilation of the translator or the author that is translated. Maybe in the meantime the publishing house garners profit but the reader who is not entitled to return the unqualified translation is confounded as to what he/she is reading. In the west a person who delivers unqualified translation will lose his/her job and the organization that employs him/her may be sued by the person organization who has suffered damages; in serious cases this may lead to paying of damages. This is not so for literary translation yet; the author suffers from being dead and the reader has to put up with a bad translator rather than the author. Still some translations still fall through the cracks. However since these problematic translations fall short of the expected circulation they cost publishers more. The translation policy of these publishers is to free the task from a dueling mentality and placing it into an environment that will allow the mutual existence of the author and the translator.

At the root of the reality that unqualified translation dominates the market in our country lies the fact that a great majority of publishers have yet to reach an adequate level of awareness as well as the fact that unqualified publication is not subject to sanction and the fact that ethical values are ignored. Objective criticism of translation can serve an important function in elevating publishers to this level of awareness. However as of now their number is really inadequate; not to mention that qualified and objective translation criticism can not be as effective as needed since the required level of corporatization has not been achieved in this area. This corporatization can be achieved through a qualified association that will facilitate elevation to the desired level in the field of translation. Birkan writes he has learned of the existence of a “Translator’s Association” after completing his article but that this association deals with translation offices. This organization whose full name is the "Turkish Translator's Association" is commercial in nature and solely affiliated with translation offices. However there is also an “Association of Translation” in our country that has been founded in November 1999. It is apparent that our association that has been established with the participation of translators who are experts in their fields, university lecturers and alumni of translation departments has not been able to announce its existence to persons employed in the field of literary translation. This lack of publicity naturally is the fault of the association management and mine as the chairman of the executive board. We will strive to bridge this communications gap as soon as possible. Let us begin this process by stating Article 2 of the Statute specifying the objectives of the Association of Translation.

a) to emphasize the scientific and social significance of translation; to raise social awareness regarding translation and the translator;
b) to specify and update the rights and responsibilities of translators and the conditions of performance of and the ethical values pertaining to the vocation of translator;
c) to encourage, oversee, monitor and ensure that professional and ethical principles are embraced and implemented by all translators;
d) to contribute to the vocational training of translators and to provide the necessary environment and tools;
e) to commission research and development efforts regarding translation and to support the work  done in this field;
f) to encourage, support and reward efforts and projects aimed at developing the profession of translation;
g) to work toward the betterment of the social and economic conditions of translators;
h) to advise and guide its members on business, commercial and contract law;
i) to work toward establishing a professional association encompassing all translators;
j) provided that the required legal permissions are obtained; to enter into collaboration with and attain membership in international professional organizations pertaining to the profession of translation;
k) to engage in activities toward the protection of the interests of translators;
l) to work towards the passing of legislations regulating the profession of translation.

The “ethical values” of the Association of Translation and the required information pertaining to the association can be accessed at the website: www.ceviridernegi.org
At this point one must also emphasize the serious efforts by The Union of Science and Literature Work Owners (Bilim ve Edebiyat Eserleri Sahipleri Meslek Birliği – BESAM – www.besam.org.tr) that was established in 1999 with the objective of “Protecting the common interests of work owners, monitoring their rights, ensuring the collection of damages and royalties and their distribution to the entitled parties” as per Article 42 of the Law of Intellectual Property Rights.

The Association of Translation conducts its efforts in line with its objectives stated above and expects the participation of professionally aware translators within the association.

(Virgül, December 2002)