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from the mister-translation-wants-equal-time dept.
Mark Polizzotti, author of "Sympathy for the Traitor: A Translation Manifesto" writes an Opinion column in The New York Times entitled Why Mistranslation Matters:
Translation is the silent waiter of linguistic performance: It often gets noticed only when it knocks over the serving cart. Sometimes these are relatively minor errors — a ham-handed rendering of an author's prose, the sort of thing a book reviewer might skewer with an acid pen.
But history is littered with more consequential mistranslations — erroneous, intentional or simply misunderstood. For a job that often involves endless hours poring over books or laptop screens, translation can prove surprisingly hazardous.
Nikita Khrushchev's infamous statement in 1956 — "We will bury you" — ushered in one of the Cold War's most dangerous phases, one rife with paranoia and conviction that both sides were out to destroy the other. But it turns out that's not what he said, not in Russian, anyway. Khrushchev's actual declaration was "We will outlast you" — prematurely boastful, perhaps, but not quite the declaration of hostilities most Americans heard, thanks to his interpreter's mistake.
The response of Kantaro Suzuki, prime minister of Japan, to an Allied ultimatum in July 1945 — just days before Hiroshima — was conveyed to Harry Truman as "silent contempt" ("mokusatsu"), when it was actually intended as "No comment. We need more time." Japan was not given any.
[...] Lately, the perils of mistranslation have taken on renewed currency. How to convey Donald Trump's free-form declarations to a global audience? The president's capricious employ of his native idiom, his fractured syntax and streaming non sequiturs are challenging enough for Anglophones, so imagine the difficulties they pose to foreigners: How, exactly, do you translate "braggadocious"?
The speed and frequency of Mr. Trump's tweets have spawned an explosion of equally fast, equally viral amateur renditions, with little thought as to how they might be interpreted worldwide. The incendiary nature of many of his statements about other political leaders only exacerbates the problem.
When words collide?
(Score: 4, Funny) by Gaaark on Saturday August 04 2018, @01:36PM (2 children)
This is why i don't like phones: i like text (at worst) or face to face (being autistic, face to face is hard enough).
How many times here at SoylentNews have we seen apologies for having mis-read something, or mistaken the tone of something typed (which is why i like using smiley faces, etc...to help convey tone).
When diplomacy fails, i would think it is because of prejudice: even if a translator translates wrong, the diplomat should be there face to face to see if the speakers face is conveying what the translator says (unless the speaker is being deliberately false and doing a poker face).
I like talking face to face so i can try to read the person. Talking on the phone is sooooo hard, i can't imagine talking to someone on the phone or by telegram when there are middle men of translators possibly (probably) screwing with the actual words/phrases.
A humorous aside:
I think world leaders should be forced to sleep together: that way they will get a more true feeling for the person... you know: Trump and May. Trump and Macron.
Churchill and Hitler sharing a bed for a year... that would have been a humorous sight, lol. Churchill smoking and drinking and Hitler talking non-stop, waving his arms in the air: "Who do you think you are? And where did you get that car?"
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 4, Funny) by c0lo on Saturday August 04 2018, @02:08PM (1 child)
Really? Did it actually happen? Here? On S/N?
(grin)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Touché) by Gaaark on Saturday August 04 2018, @05:55PM
Didn't it?
Shit.
I apologize. :)
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---