Monday, July 21, 2008

Translator's Block


Is "translator's block" an fitting term for the suffering literary translators endure when the brain seemingly seizes to gives the answers they are looking for?

Today, and the past few days, have been a disaster. I am presently working on an annotated translation as part of my Masters in literary translation. I chose to translate this writer and book because the moment I read it I fell in love with it. Big mistake. I loved the subtle blurring of reality and fiction in the mind of this want to be writer. I loved the existentialist piss-taking of himself. I loved the flow from beginning to end. I loved his constant use of idioms that merged with the image/situation being described.  I loved..., I loved..., I loved.... That's exactly why I should have put that book right back where I found it. I am massacring this book and it is painful to be living through this. It is painful to be aware that I am the perpetrator of such a horrifying crime. It is impossible to re-create, however remotely close, what the author has done. 

More painfully, because of this constant guilt assailing me every single sentence, I have been experiencing "translators block". My mind freezes and shuts down to prevent me from doing any further damage. But the damage has to be done. It is too late to turn back now. Only two months to go before my dissertation is due and I can't change my topic now. How do I overcome this painful painful painful situation? 

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