Commentary on “On Nagai Kafu and Kawabata Yasunari”, E. Seidensticker

     Seidensticker in his speech touches upon some important aspects of being a translator. One of these aspects that stood out to me was in a quote from the speech: "...and you, the translator, are perfectly aware that every one of these possibilities is inadequate, not a perfect solution." Sidensticker speaks about the multiple possibilities in translating a piece of work. There are numerous different ways a translator could take. However, regardless of the choices the translator makes, a translation will never be perfect. Some nuances will always be lost; such is the nature of language and cultural barriers. He even echoes this in the speech. No matter what translation choice he makes, it will not be a perfect mirror of the original content.

            Another aspect of the article I found interesting was the part where he talks about the struggles of not improving upon a translation. It’s something about translating that I never considered. Naturally, translators want to be as faithful to the original translation as possible, even if they have different opinions on the structure or wording of the piece. Even if a translator can improve upon the original work, it would be a disservice to as it becomes no longer the work of the original author.

            Seidensticker’s anecdotes about his experiences translating also shed light onto his experiences as a translator. In the paragraph about the “girl” vs. “woman”, Seidensticker mentions that his translation didn’t convey the original meaning as well as he wanted, but it was the best he felt he could do. He even took suggestions from other people, before deciding to stick with his original wording. Seidensticker also talks about his translation of Snow Country, particularly the beginning and how famous it is. As a result, he felt pressured to translate it the best way he can. Despite his best efforts, he received criticism for the end result, noting that it was an inevitability no matter how good his translation was. A translator faces many challenges in their work, and Seidensticker is no exception. However, in discussing these challenges we can be more conscious of the choices we make in our own translations.

Alex