Quote:
|
Originally Posted by lauracipolla
If the original text is dark, unclear, ambiguous... why should we change that and make it clear for the readers?
|
Absolutely true, Laura. It is not our task (nor our duty) to
explain the text in one language to the reader in another language, even more so because sometimes those ambiguities are part of the author's style and not real errors. Nevertheless, each language has its own spirit, its own
passwords known only to those which has it as their native language.
Some years ago I worked several months in Guatemala, and then something happened to me that might explain better my point. In that time there was a Mexican TV show conducted by Paco Stanley (a very funny guy) which had an ample audience in that country. Even though all my colleagues there laughed at Stanley's jokes, they didn't understand one word the conductor used very often: "mandilón". Any Mexican understands at once the extensive joke that only word conveys, but to my Guatemalan friends its meaning escaped their comprehension. "Mandilón" is the husband who wears the "mandil" (apron) instead of his wife. In a country famous for its "machos", the word "mandilón" acquires a meaning more profound than in other, more "civilized" countries. Thus, when I explained the meaning of this word to my friends there, their eyes sparkled with laughter: Guatemalans are very "machos" too.
So, you see, translation is not only a matter of transferring one thing from one language to another: I think it has to do with interpreting, but also
sometimes with explaining the text, when it deals with these kind of very local matters.
Saludos