{"id":625,"date":"2012-10-05T02:05:40","date_gmt":"2012-10-05T02:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/?p=625"},"modified":"2017-09-22T02:06:44","modified_gmt":"2017-09-22T02:06:44","slug":"featured-blog-october-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ata-divisions.org\/PLD\/2012\/10\/05\/featured-blog-october-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"Featured Blog \u2013 October 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"
Do it Now! Do it Fast! Quality Not Required!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/header>\n
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by\u00a0Rafa Lombardino<\/a>
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I have to say I am really concerned about this new trend in literary translations in Brazil\u2014hopefully it\u2019s not a worldwide trend. We\u2019ve all known about this horrible common practice in the translation industry, when companies hire irresponsible translation agencies that divide large documents into tiny little pieces, assign each part to a different translator, then put it all together without any reviewing process whatsoever, delivering a true Frankenstein back to the client and calling it a \u201ctranslated document.\u201d But applying this money-making client-deceiving model to literary translation while thinking nobody will notice it is na\u00efve, to say the least. C\u2019mon people!<\/p>\n

Technical translators usually say, \u201cI\u2019m not really sure why I\u2019m translating this\u2026 Nobody is ever gonna read it!\u201d This sounds about right, albeit untrue and irrelevant\u2014just do your job already\u2014when you\u2019re dealing with lengthy corporate documents that no one cares to scrutinize, until it\u2019s too late and you have to deal with the aftermath of a breach of contract, an environmental accident, or an employee injury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

However, books are meant to be read and enjoyed. The purpose of literature is to make us reflect on the human condition, to help us escape our reality into a world of fantasy, to learn about ourselves while reading about the lives of others and situations we\u2019ll hardly ever have a chance to experience in our entire lives. When books are translated like that, as quickly and carelessly as possible so they can be made available to the market and publishers can cash in with the latest bestseller celebrated abroad, readers will take notice and you won\u2019t get away with it.<\/div>\n
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Perhaps the most well-known literary translation blunder in Brazil involves\u00a0George R. R. Martin<\/a>\u2018s \u201cA Song of Ice and Fire<\/a>.\u201d Multinational publisher\u00a0Leya<\/a>\u00a0acquired the rights to adapt the European Portuguese version translated by\u00a0Jorge Candeias<\/a>\u00a0for Portugal publisher\u00a0Sa\u00edda de Emerg\u00eancia<\/a>. That\u2019s a common practice in technical translations when an agency wants to pay less for a translator to adapt European Portuguese into Brazilian Portuguese, instead of paying full price for the translation from the original language.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, results were far from desirable, but the method was repeated to get books 1-4 published in Brazil. So, when the time came to translate \u201cA Dance With Dragons<\/a>,\u201d the 5th book in the series, Leya tried a new approach and hired translators to work directly from the English original.<\/p>\n

Wanna know what happened? The book hit the shelves with a chapter missing! Everything was probably done in such a hurry that Chapter 26 was MIA! After the damage was done, the publisher sent out apologies, made the chapter available as a PDF online not to interrupt the reading process of current buyers and recalled all copies in order to properly correct their mistake,\u00a0which may have cost them $1 million Brazilian reais<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Then, a couple of days ago, I was reading\u00a0this article<\/a>\u00a0that highlighted a few of the 50 translation mistakes made in the Brazilian version of\u00a0Nigel Cliff\u2019s The Last Crusade: The Epic Voyages of Vasco da Gama<\/a>. The book became\u00a0\u201cGuerra Santa\u201d [Holy War] in Brazil, was edited by Globo Livros and translated by Renato Rezende<\/a>\u2014who seems to have quite a few important book translations under his belt. The title had already hit the shelves when the publisher decided to add a little note about some mistakes:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo livro Guerra Santa, por erro de tradu\u00e7\u00e3o, onde se l\u00ea Calcut\u00e1, leia-se Calicute; onde se l\u00ea Ct\u00e9sifo, leia-se Ctesifonte; onde se l\u00ea duque George, leia-se duque Jorge. E, nas p\u00e1ginas 346 e 347, onde se l\u00ea Kilwa, leia-se Quilon.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As you can see, there were at least four mistakes that the publishers have acknowledged. The Ilustrada section of Folha de S. Paulo, one of the largest newspapers in Brazil, went into detail about another eight or ten errors. The ones that caught my eye were the literal \u201clearning the ropes\u201d as \u201cconhecendo as cordas\u201d [meeting \/ getting to know the ropes] (Delighted to make your acquaintance, Mr. and Mrs. Rope!) and \u201carrested\u201d [to seize merchandise] translated as \u201carrastar\u201d [to drag] just because the two words look alike\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame that this account of such an important story about Vasco da Gama\u2019s voyage to India, which inspired his rival Christopher Columbus to reach the Americas, will be forever tarnished in Brazil. Most readers who try to enjoy the book will be misinformed, to say the least. Others could have fun creating a drinking game: one shot of tequila for every translation mistake you\u2019re able to spot.<\/p>\n

You might ask, \u201cHow can you correct this situation?\u201d Well, it\u2019s simple! First of all, publishers must hire translators who actually know their stuff, who have a deep understanding of the source language, good researching skills, and the decency to understand, for example, that \u201cfluvial\u201d is an adjective that applies to rivers (as in \u201criver course\u201d) and, consequently, cannot be used in a sentence about ships venturing into the Indic and Pacific Oceans!<\/p>\n

And, when you do find those translators, make sure you give enough time for the project to be completed. I understand publishers must be constantly pressed by competitors who may have similar titles in the works, but when you rush things, that\u2019s likely the result you\u2019re gonna get: a pie to the face that will affect the reputation of the publishing house, the translator, the book, and the author (yes, what do Mr. Cliff and Mr. Martin think about that?) and, ultimately and above all, disrespect the reader!<\/p>\n

There, I said it!<\/p>\n

More references:<\/p>\n

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