Translation - Facts About Finland
Working on my third obligatory assignment~ This has been the most entertaining text so far, but I'm afraid it needs a lot of work. We're currently learning about theme, rheme, and cohesion, and it's all a bit greek to me, but I'll get there somehow. Anyway the challenge with this text is that it's a massive blob of text. The punctuation is basically just a lot of commas. Very few periods, and the ones in there are there mostly for dramatic effect. Stream of consciousness style. I've kept the punctuation as is in this first rough draft, but I probably need to change some things around. We obviously need to think about cohesive devices and theme & rheme in this assignment :s not quite sure how to tackle that, it's not normally something I specifically think about or look for in a text, so it's a challenge. On top of that I like rambly, disjointed texts with lots of commas and endless speech. It's fun to read when done right, so I don't want to mess too much with Erlend Loe's original structure, but if it doesn't work in English then I need to find some workarounds.
"Attached is a text extract from Fakta om Finland by Erlend Loe. Imagine that you have been asked to produce a trial translation of the text extract, allowing prospective publishers in Great Britain or the U.S. to form an impression of the work and the author, with a view to possible publication."
Source text (Norwegian)
Den rette brosjyren vil kunne gjøre underverker, sier de, og det er her jeg kommer inn. Jeg har ord på meg for å lage gode brosjyrer, jeg vil ikke skryte, det er best om det kommer fra andre enn meg, men jeg kan brosjyrer, jeg gjør det. Jeg tar brosjyrer på alvor. Problemet er at jeg ikke vet noe om Finland. Men jeg trenger pengene, og jobben, det har med selvfølelse å gjøre, jeg føler meg bedre med meg selv når jeg jobber enn når jeg ikke jobber, og det er en stund siden jeg gjorde en brosjyre nå, jeg levde lenge på den forrige, og til dels stort, men nå er pengene oppbrukt og jeg har kommet dit at det er på høy tid å lage brosjyre, det er brosjyretid, så jeg lar være å si for mye om at jeg ikke kan noe om Finland og gir i stedet inntrykk av å kunne ett og annet om Finland. Jeg nevner vinterkrigen. Og Edith Södergran, arme menneske, jag har en port för döden - den står alltid öppen. Og Vinterpalasset. Nei, ikke Vinterpalasset. Det er St. Petersburg. De stormet det i 1917, bolsjevikene, kommunistene, de var fryktelig sinte. Med rette, vil jeg hevde, de hadde god grunn til å være sinte. Tsaren satt på toppen av et ekstremt urettferdig system. Det var livegenskap og faenskap over hele linjen, og nå tok de skjeen i egen munn, eller heter det hånd, det kan være det samme, men Vinterpalasset måtte stormes. Det var ingen vei utenom, og Eisenstein laget en film om det. Jeg har sett den på en eller annen filmklubb for mange år siden. Han pyntet nok litt på virkeligheten, den godeste Eisenstein, men hva så? Herregud, det er jo film, det er løgn, hva spiller det for rolle, hvem bryr seg? Hva mer har Finland? De har Lahti, hvor man jukser på ski, og ekteparet Kirvisniemi, hva heter hun igjen, hun het noe annet først og så giftet hun seg og han, var det Harri? Og tusen sjøer, og Jean, den store Sibelius, og design, kanskje først og fremst design, og Nokia, herregud, det mest innbringende selskapet i hele Europa, jeg har en Nokiatelefon selv, den er pålitelig som pokker og har en infrarød utgang for den som trenger det, men det gjør ikke jeg, jeg liker ikke infrarøde utganger, jeg liker ikke infrarøde saker overhodet, de minner meg om sykdom, om kreft, og død, og død er forandring, som vann, og døden flyter, som vann, den er forandring mer enn noe annet, og det liker jeg ikke, til helvete med det. Og finnene har Kalevala, visst pokker har de Kalevala, et urtidsepos, eller hva det er, jeg har sett det på tv, snålinger med skjegg løper rundt og synger og ofrer kvinner og hverandre til gud og hvermann. Og de har reinsdyr, de har mengder av doble vokaler, de har sprit.
Jeg kan masse om Finland.
Target text (English)
They say the right brochure can do wonders, and that's where I come in. I've got a reputation for producing good brochures, I don't want to brag, it's better to hear this from others than myself, but I know brochures, I do. I take brochures seriously. The problem is that I don't know anything about Finland. But I need the money, and the job, it's a self-esteem issue, I feel better about myself when I work than when I don't, and it's been a while since I produced a brochure now, the last one lasted me a good old time, but the money has all been spent now ((//is all gone now)) and I've reached the point where it's about time to produce a brochure, it's brochure-time, so I avoid mentioning that I don't know anything about Finland, and rather give the impression that I do know something or other about Finland. I mention the Winter War. And Edith Södergran, unfortunate soul, I have a gate for death - it is always open. And the Winter Palace. No, not the Winter Palace. That's ((in)) Saint Petersburg. They stormed it in 1917, the Bolsheviks, the communists, they were terribly upset. And rightfully so, I say, they had good ((//every)) reason to be upset. The Tsar was the head ((//at the top)) of a horribly unjust system. Serfdom and devilry all along the line, and they were now minding their ways, or is it mending, whatever, but the Winter Palace had to be stormed. There was no way around it, and Eisenstein made a film about it. I've seen it ((//saw it)) at some film club several years ago. He must have prettied up the events, our good man Eisenstein, but so what? It's a film, for Christ's sake, it's all lies, what does it matter, who cares? What more has Finland got? They've got Lahti, where people cheat at skiing, and the Kirvisniemis, what's her name again, she was called something else at first, and then she got married and him, was it Harri? And a thousand lakes, and Jean, the great Sibelius, and design, perhaps most of all design, and Nokia, oh my god, the most lucrative business company in all of Europe, I've got a Nokia phone myself, it's reliable as hell and has an infrared port for those who need that, but I don't, I don't like infrared ports, I don't like infrared things at all, they remind me ((//make me think)) of sickness, of cancer, and death, and death is change, like water, and death flows, like water, it brings change more than any other thing, and I don't like it, to hell with it. And the Finns have the Kalevala, darned right, they've got the Kalevala, a prehistoric epic poem, or whatever it is, I've seen it on tv, weirdos with beards running around singing and sacrificing women and each other to everybody and his brother ((//every Tom, Dick and Harry)). And they've got reindeer, they've got heaps of double vowels, and they've got booze.
I know lots about Finland.
Hahahaha. So many fun things in there 8D So many challenges, but FINALLY a text that isn't Norway specific. Of course we've still got culture specific references in here, but the narrator isn't supposed to know much anyway so it isn't all that important to get things right. Lololol. (I kid, I kid).
I did struggle with the Edith Södergran reference. I'm not much into poetry, and I've never heard of her before. Some of her poems have been translated into English, but Mot alla fyra vindar, which is the poem quoted in the text, hasn't been (not that I could find anyway). So I did my best to translate that line of poetry, but fffff. I'm afraid the reference is totally lost :/
I'm annoyed that I couldn't find a profanity that neatly fits together with "serfdom". Are there any profanities ending in "-dom" with more or less the same meaning as "devilry"? I'd like to know 8] Hahahaha. Because honestly "faenskap" != "devilry" in my head. Speaking freely, I would have translated it as "fuckery" or something XDD Hmm.. even though "faenskap" doesn't mean "bullshit" which is what "fuckery" is often used to mean, so lol. I guess that wouldn't have worked either. PROFANITIES! 8]
I tried to play around with the idiom "to mend one's way". I could also have used "to turn over a new leaf", as they both express the same idea, but yeah.. that's a very tricky line in the original text and it is quite possible that I've missed the point on that one. I'm not sure I understand the intended joke, which obviously leads to crappy solutions 8] lol.
Kirvisniemi is spelt wrong (the name is spelt Kirvesniemi), but I don't know if the typo is intentional (in the original text), or if my teacher made a typo when writing up this assignment for us 8D).
The whole death = change thing is confusing, even in the original text. I don't know what's going on there, and I'm guessing that's the point :x All the repetitions in that part are quite poetic and fun, though. Just not sure if it works in English.
This assignment has reminded me that I should check out Erlend Loe's works. I've read several excerpts from various texts of his, and always enjoyed his style. Not sure why I've never managed to read anything of his. The novel this text is en excerpt from seems hilarious :D
"Attached is a text extract from Fakta om Finland by Erlend Loe. Imagine that you have been asked to produce a trial translation of the text extract, allowing prospective publishers in Great Britain or the U.S. to form an impression of the work and the author, with a view to possible publication."
Source text (Norwegian)
Den rette brosjyren vil kunne gjøre underverker, sier de, og det er her jeg kommer inn. Jeg har ord på meg for å lage gode brosjyrer, jeg vil ikke skryte, det er best om det kommer fra andre enn meg, men jeg kan brosjyrer, jeg gjør det. Jeg tar brosjyrer på alvor. Problemet er at jeg ikke vet noe om Finland. Men jeg trenger pengene, og jobben, det har med selvfølelse å gjøre, jeg føler meg bedre med meg selv når jeg jobber enn når jeg ikke jobber, og det er en stund siden jeg gjorde en brosjyre nå, jeg levde lenge på den forrige, og til dels stort, men nå er pengene oppbrukt og jeg har kommet dit at det er på høy tid å lage brosjyre, det er brosjyretid, så jeg lar være å si for mye om at jeg ikke kan noe om Finland og gir i stedet inntrykk av å kunne ett og annet om Finland. Jeg nevner vinterkrigen. Og Edith Södergran, arme menneske, jag har en port för döden - den står alltid öppen. Og Vinterpalasset. Nei, ikke Vinterpalasset. Det er St. Petersburg. De stormet det i 1917, bolsjevikene, kommunistene, de var fryktelig sinte. Med rette, vil jeg hevde, de hadde god grunn til å være sinte. Tsaren satt på toppen av et ekstremt urettferdig system. Det var livegenskap og faenskap over hele linjen, og nå tok de skjeen i egen munn, eller heter det hånd, det kan være det samme, men Vinterpalasset måtte stormes. Det var ingen vei utenom, og Eisenstein laget en film om det. Jeg har sett den på en eller annen filmklubb for mange år siden. Han pyntet nok litt på virkeligheten, den godeste Eisenstein, men hva så? Herregud, det er jo film, det er løgn, hva spiller det for rolle, hvem bryr seg? Hva mer har Finland? De har Lahti, hvor man jukser på ski, og ekteparet Kirvisniemi, hva heter hun igjen, hun het noe annet først og så giftet hun seg og han, var det Harri? Og tusen sjøer, og Jean, den store Sibelius, og design, kanskje først og fremst design, og Nokia, herregud, det mest innbringende selskapet i hele Europa, jeg har en Nokiatelefon selv, den er pålitelig som pokker og har en infrarød utgang for den som trenger det, men det gjør ikke jeg, jeg liker ikke infrarøde utganger, jeg liker ikke infrarøde saker overhodet, de minner meg om sykdom, om kreft, og død, og død er forandring, som vann, og døden flyter, som vann, den er forandring mer enn noe annet, og det liker jeg ikke, til helvete med det. Og finnene har Kalevala, visst pokker har de Kalevala, et urtidsepos, eller hva det er, jeg har sett det på tv, snålinger med skjegg løper rundt og synger og ofrer kvinner og hverandre til gud og hvermann. Og de har reinsdyr, de har mengder av doble vokaler, de har sprit.
Jeg kan masse om Finland.
Target text (English)
They say the right brochure can do wonders, and that's where I come in. I've got a reputation for producing good brochures, I don't want to brag, it's better to hear this from others than myself, but I know brochures, I do. I take brochures seriously. The problem is that I don't know anything about Finland. But I need the money, and the job, it's a self-esteem issue, I feel better about myself when I work than when I don't, and it's been a while since I produced a brochure now, the last one lasted me a good old time, but the money has all been spent now ((//is all gone now)) and I've reached the point where it's about time to produce a brochure, it's brochure-time, so I avoid mentioning that I don't know anything about Finland, and rather give the impression that I do know something or other about Finland. I mention the Winter War. And Edith Södergran, unfortunate soul, I have a gate for death - it is always open. And the Winter Palace. No, not the Winter Palace. That's ((in)) Saint Petersburg. They stormed it in 1917, the Bolsheviks, the communists, they were terribly upset. And rightfully so, I say, they had good ((//every)) reason to be upset. The Tsar was the head ((//at the top)) of a horribly unjust system. Serfdom and devilry all along the line, and they were now minding their ways, or is it mending, whatever, but the Winter Palace had to be stormed. There was no way around it, and Eisenstein made a film about it. I've seen it ((//saw it)) at some film club several years ago. He must have prettied up the events, our good man Eisenstein, but so what? It's a film, for Christ's sake, it's all lies, what does it matter, who cares? What more has Finland got? They've got Lahti, where people cheat at skiing, and the Kirvisniemis, what's her name again, she was called something else at first, and then she got married and him, was it Harri? And a thousand lakes, and Jean, the great Sibelius, and design, perhaps most of all design, and Nokia, oh my god, the most lucrative business company in all of Europe, I've got a Nokia phone myself, it's reliable as hell and has an infrared port for those who need that, but I don't, I don't like infrared ports, I don't like infrared things at all, they remind me ((//make me think)) of sickness, of cancer, and death, and death is change, like water, and death flows, like water, it brings change more than any other thing, and I don't like it, to hell with it. And the Finns have the Kalevala, darned right, they've got the Kalevala, a prehistoric epic poem, or whatever it is, I've seen it on tv, weirdos with beards running around singing and sacrificing women and each other to everybody and his brother ((//every Tom, Dick and Harry)). And they've got reindeer, they've got heaps of double vowels, and they've got booze.
I know lots about Finland.
Hahahaha. So many fun things in there 8D So many challenges, but FINALLY a text that isn't Norway specific. Of course we've still got culture specific references in here, but the narrator isn't supposed to know much anyway so it isn't all that important to get things right. Lololol. (I kid, I kid).
I did struggle with the Edith Södergran reference. I'm not much into poetry, and I've never heard of her before. Some of her poems have been translated into English, but Mot alla fyra vindar, which is the poem quoted in the text, hasn't been (not that I could find anyway). So I did my best to translate that line of poetry, but fffff. I'm afraid the reference is totally lost :/
I'm annoyed that I couldn't find a profanity that neatly fits together with "serfdom". Are there any profanities ending in "-dom" with more or less the same meaning as "devilry"? I'd like to know 8] Hahahaha. Because honestly "faenskap" != "devilry" in my head. Speaking freely, I would have translated it as "fuckery" or something XDD Hmm.. even though "faenskap" doesn't mean "bullshit" which is what "fuckery" is often used to mean, so lol. I guess that wouldn't have worked either. PROFANITIES! 8]
I tried to play around with the idiom "to mend one's way". I could also have used "to turn over a new leaf", as they both express the same idea, but yeah.. that's a very tricky line in the original text and it is quite possible that I've missed the point on that one. I'm not sure I understand the intended joke, which obviously leads to crappy solutions 8] lol.
Kirvisniemi is spelt wrong (the name is spelt Kirvesniemi), but I don't know if the typo is intentional (in the original text), or if my teacher made a typo when writing up this assignment for us 8D).
The whole death = change thing is confusing, even in the original text. I don't know what's going on there, and I'm guessing that's the point :x All the repetitions in that part are quite poetic and fun, though. Just not sure if it works in English.
This assignment has reminded me that I should check out Erlend Loe's works. I've read several excerpts from various texts of his, and always enjoyed his style. Not sure why I've never managed to read anything of his. The novel this text is en excerpt from seems hilarious :D