{"id":2649,"date":"2014-06-18T09:30:33","date_gmt":"2014-06-18T01:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=2649"},"modified":"2014-06-06T14:15:21","modified_gmt":"2014-06-06T06:15:21","slug":"sal-robinson-on-the-translator-writes-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=2649","title":{"rendered":"Sal Robinson on \u201cThe Translator Writes Back\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Melville House <\/a>editor and founder of The Bridge Series<\/a> Sal Robinson introduces \u201cThe Translator Writes Back<\/a>“:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Translator Writes Back<\/a>\u201d is a Tumblr blog on which translators can post their responses to reviews of their work. It has so far one entry, from Alison Entrekin<\/b>, translator from Portuguese. But oh man, what an entry … It isn\u2019t the dismissal here that stings \u2014 all reviewers have the right to say that some words and lines and books are better than others. It\u2019s [the reviewer’s] automatic location of the fault in the translation, without any reference to the original. It is actually an easy problem to solve, even the space of a short review: you just say whether or not you have read the original, and if you haven\u2019t, make that clear. And then go forward with your critique. Without parceling out praise to the author and blame to the translator in a kind of \u201cgiveth with one hand, taketh away with the other\u201d move.<\/p>\n

In the past, a translator\u2019s options for responding to a review like this would have been limited: a letter to the editor, grousing on Facebook, perhaps an email to the reviewer. The fact that \u201cThe Translator Writes Back\u201d exists feels like an indication that another stage has been reached in translators\u2019 visibility, and in making these discussions basically more intelligent and less lazy. That Entrekin signs off her letter \u201cFaithfully\u201d (was this deliberate? how could it not have been?) only sweetens the situation.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To submit to \u201cThe Translator Writes Back<\/a>,” write to thetranslatorwritesback (a) gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melville House editor and founder of The Bridge Series Sal Robinson introduces \u201cThe Translator Writes Back“: \u201cThe Translator Writes Back\u201d is a Tumblr blog on which translators can post their responses to reviews of their work. It has so far … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3,16],"tags":[1416,1415],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8srwF-GJ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2869,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=2869","url_meta":{"origin":2649,"position":0},"title":"The Translator & the Translated at HKU","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"November 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The Translator and The Translated Date: November 5, 2014 (Wednesday) Time: 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm Venue: Room 218, Convocation Room, Main Building, University of Hong Kong Walk-ins welcome!","rel":"","context":"In "Readings"","block_context":{"text":"Readings","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=9"},"img":{"alt_text":"translators & translated","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/translators-translated-724x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/translators-translated-724x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xichuanpoetry.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/translators-translated-724x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3232,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3232","url_meta":{"origin":2649,"position":1},"title":"Admussen on Translation","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"July 6, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"In his editorial statement for ep;phany, Nick Admussen writes on translation: Either during the translation or as a result of the translation, something happens between the artist and their translator, and for a moment there seems to be a very simple, bilateral relationship, one that feels far distant from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Links"","block_context":{"text":"Links","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2471,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=2471","url_meta":{"origin":2649,"position":2},"title":"Name the Translator","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"February 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Words Without Borders has posted an editorial of mine. 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Here's an excerpt: In one sense, the core of the book is McDougall's recollections of living in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Links"","block_context":{"text":"Links","link":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/mclc.osu.edu\/rc\/pubs\/reviews\/mcdougall.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3592,"url":"https:\/\/xichuanpoetry.com\/?p=3592","url_meta":{"origin":2649,"position":5},"title":"Link on Weinberger’s 19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei","author":"Lucas Klein","date":"November 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Perry Link at the New York Review of Books reviews the expanded re-release of 19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei, by Eliot Weinberger. Link writes: Some of the art of classical Chinese poetry must simply be set aside as untranslatable ... 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