Pulvers and Beichman

I loved the topic of poetry translation in this week’s readings. I have always wondered how translators go about translating all the nuances of poetry. I have read Japanese to Chinese or Chinese to Japanese poetry translations and due to the similarities of the languages, they seem to come out easier as less changes need to be made. However, when it is a more distant language like English, sometimes your only choice is to give up on translating over an aspect of the poem. In the Pulvers reading, it really stood out to me when he said, “distancing yourself from the syntax of the original may be the way to get closest to that original.” I was really shocked when he gave the example of translating the line “watashi wa zettai ni makenai!” The difference was huge in the syntax, however, it did seem like a more fitting poetic choice in English. I think that showed me that poetry translation requires you to be more adventurous and daring. 

I also really enjoyed the specific examples that the Beichman reading gave regarding different things to consider when translating. I feel like it showed that there are more things to consider compared to translating prose in terms of the number of words. Specifically, with the tone being so crucial to a poem, just reading it under different stages of your life can change everything about it. I will definitely be referring to this reading when I do my own poem translations this week. 

Celine