The tracks of my train of thought are twisted, part 23
So I posted this on, oh, Sunday as a discussion question for my translation-themed writing class...
Suppose you are translating something the meaning of which is very personal, very much dependent on the reader, such as a poem or some kind of mystical text (for example, the Tao Te Ching, the central text of Taoism). Can a 'translation' include translations not only of the words but of the concepts? That is to say, if there are certain ideas within the text that are intimately informed by the culture in which the piece was written, can those ideas be adjusted to be meaningful to the culture of the translator and/or intended reader, while still being able to reasonably refer to the result as a translation, rather than as something 'inspired by' such-and-such a thing?
... I realized yesterday that it could be much more effectively and simply phrased thusly:
Where is the line between translation and adaptation?
That's right, I completely forgot that there was a word for the concept of a literary 'adaptation'. Good heavens.
Suppose you are translating something the meaning of which is very personal, very much dependent on the reader, such as a poem or some kind of mystical text (for example, the Tao Te Ching, the central text of Taoism). Can a 'translation' include translations not only of the words but of the concepts? That is to say, if there are certain ideas within the text that are intimately informed by the culture in which the piece was written, can those ideas be adjusted to be meaningful to the culture of the translator and/or intended reader, while still being able to reasonably refer to the result as a translation, rather than as something 'inspired by' such-and-such a thing?
... I realized yesterday that it could be much more effectively and simply phrased thusly:
Where is the line between translation and adaptation?
That's right, I completely forgot that there was a word for the concept of a literary 'adaptation'. Good heavens.