Why Translation Matters

by Edith Grossman

Overview

From the celebrated translator of Cervantes and Garciá Márquez, a testament to the power of the translator’s art
 
“Groundbreaking.”—New York Times
 
Why Translation Matters argues for the cultural importance of translation and for a more encompassing and nuanced appreciation of the translator’s role. As the acclaimed translator Edith Grossman writes in her introduction, “My intention is to stimulate a new consideration of an area of literature that is too often ignored, misunderstood, or misrepresented.”
 
For Grossman, translation has a transcendent importance: “Translation not only plays its important traditional role as the means that allows us access to literature originally written in one of the countless languages we cannot read, but it also represents a concrete literary presence with the crucial capacity to ease and make more meaningful our relationships to those with whom we may not have had a connection before. Translation always helps us to know, to see from a different angle, to attribute new value to what once may have been unfamiliar. As nations and as individuals, we have a critical need for that kind of understanding and insight. The alternative is unthinkable.”
 
Throughout the four chapters of this bracing volume, Grossman’s belief in the crucial significance of the translator’s work, as well as her rare ability to explain the intellectual sphere that she inhabits as interpreter of the original text, inspires and provokes the reader to engage with translation in an entirely new way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300171303
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	03/08/2011
Series:	Why X Matters Series
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	732,367
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.60(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Edith Grossman (1936–2023) was acclaimed for her translations of works by Gabriel García Márquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Carlos Fuentes, Mayra Montero, and many other distinguished Spanish-language writers. Her translation of Don Quixote is widely considered a masterpiece. She received numerous prizes for her work, including the Ralph Manheim Medal for Translation by PEN in 2006, an award in literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2008, a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009, and the Queen Sofía Spanish Institute Translation Prize in 2010. She was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction: Why Translation Matters 1

1 Authors, Translators, and Readers Today 35

2 Translating Cervantes 61

3 Translating Poetry 89

A Personal List of Important Translations 121

Works Cited 125

Acknowledgments 127

Index 129

Editorial Reviews

Groundbreaking.”—New York Times

“Grossman and others like her continue to offer us enlightenment. . . . [The subject] is passionately explored and patiently explained.”—Richard Howard, New York Times Book Review

“In this slim but powerful volume, Edith Grossman argues that translation performs a function that is too often ignored or misunderstood.”—Edward King, Sunday Times

“A passionate defense of the translator’s art.”—Peter Terzian, Boston Globe

“Grossman writes with passion and clarity, and with a wisdom acquired through decades of practice. . . . Why Translation Matters is well argued and stylishly written. Or, to put it another way, it is both able and seamless.”—Daniel Hahn, Times Literary Supplement

“A brief, forceful defense of [translation].”—Hillel Italie, Associated Press

“Required reading for publishers the world over. . . . It should also be given to all reviewers, agents, writers and readers. . . . In clean language that is a pleasure to read, Grossman argues why and how a good translation is just that.”—Julie Rose, The Australian

“A passionate and provocative case for the continuing importance of literary translation.”—London Review of Books

“This trio of essays is a record of a professional’s clear-sighted reflections on an often misunderstood craft. Composed with clarity and insight in what Orwell himself would have called ‘windowpane prose,’ the book is a beautifully written and boldly argued piece of scholarship.”—Thomas Patrick Wisniewski, In Other Words—Journal for Literary Translators

“This is a valuable book and a valiant effort to explain the importance of translation.”—Chad Post, Quarterly Conversation

“[Grossman’s] investigation of the broad-reaching societal benefits of translated texts—which allow for exchange of ideas and insight—is captivating and refreshing.”—Choice

“Grossman is one of the multilingual crowd’s best, and she explains exactly why this skill of decoding and reconstruction of an author’s words, rhythm and intent is so important.”—San Francisco Chronicle

Selected as a Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2010 in the Language & Literature category

“Edith Grossman, the Glenn Gould of translators, has written a superb book on the art of the literary translation. Even Walter Benjamin is surpassed by her insights into her task, which she rightly sees as imaginatively independent. This should become a classic text.”—Harold Bloom

From the Publisher

Grossman is at her eloquent best not when she makes plaintive, resentful demands that the "bloated international conglomerates" owning the major publishing houses face up to their responsibility to foster literature in translation, but rather when she reveals her joy in her work and her true inspiration…In the end, Grossman warmly…and gratefully rehearses the twofold answer to the question of her title: translation matters because it is an expression and an extension of our humanity, the secret metaphor of all literary communication; and because the creation of any literary translation is (or at least must be) an original writing, not a pathetic shadow or tracing of the inaccessible "original" but the creation, indeed, of a second—and as we have seen, a third and a ninth—but always a new work, in another language.
—The New York Times

Richard Howard

Invoking Ralph Manheim's metaphor, Grossman compares the translator's art to that of the actor transforming a playwright's words in performance. Thus asserts award-winning translator Grossman, who has worked with some of Latin America's greatest authors and most recently translated Don Quixote. The art of translation “expands our ability to explore through literature the thoughts and feelings of people from another society or another time.” Grossman believes that U.S. and U.K. publishers, who limit the number of translations to 2%–3% of their lists, are not meeting their “ethical and cultural responsibility” to literature. After discussing her method for translating poetry, Grossman offers tuition in poetic forms and fascinating examples from the 16th century to the present. Based on lectures Grossman gave at Yale, this book provides a succinct argument for the importance of those who “bring a text over” from another language and make it accessible to a wider audience. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"This trio of essays is a record of a professional's clear-sighted reflections on an often misunderstood craft. Composed with clarity and insight in what Orwell himself would have called 'windowpane prose,' the book is a beautifully written and boldly argued piece of scholarship."—Thomas Patrick Wisniewski, In Other Words—The Journal for Literary Translators

In Other Words - Thomas Patrick Wisniewski

"A brief, forceful defense of [translation]."—Hillel Italie, The Associated Press

The Associated Press - Hillel Italie

"A passionate defense of the translator's art."—Peter Terzian, The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe - Peter Terzian

"Grossman is one of the multilingual crowd's best, and she explains exactly why this skill of decoding and reconstruction of an author's words, rhythm and intent is so important."—San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Chronicle

"[Grossman's] investigation of the broad-reaching societal benefits of translated texts—which allow for exchange of ideas and insight—is captivating and refreshing."—Choice

Choice

"This is a valuable book and a valiant effort to explain the importance of translation."—Chad Post, The Quarterly Conversation

The Quarterly Conversation - Chad Post

"In this slim but powerful volume, Edith Grossman argues that translation performs a function that is too often ignored or misunderstood." — Edward King, Sunday Times

Sunday Times - Edward King

“Required reading for publishers the world over. . . . It should also be given to all reviewers, agents, writers and readers. . . . In clean language that is a pleasure to read, Grossman argues why and how a good translation is just that."—Julie Rose, The Australian

The Australian - Julie Rose

“Grossman and others like her continue to offer us enlightenment. . . .[The subject] is passionately explored and patiently explained.”—Richard Howard, New York Times Book Review

New York Times Book Review - Richard Howard

“Edith Grossman, the Glenn Gould of translators, has written a superb book on the art of the literary translation. Even Walter Benjamin is surpassed by her insights into her task, which she rightly sees as imaginatively independent. This should become a classic text.”—Harold Bloom

Harold Bloom

This trio of essays is a record of a professional's clear-sighted reflections on an often misunderstood craft. Composed with clarity and insight in what Orwell himself would have called 'windowpane prose,' the book is a beautifully written and boldly argued piece of scholarship.—Thomas Patrick Wisniewski, In Other Words—The Journal for Literary Translators

— Thomas Patrick Wisniewski

In Other Words

A brief, forceful defense of [translation].—Hillel Italie, The Associated Press

— Hillel Italie

The Associated Press

A passionate defense of the translator's art.—Peter Terzian, The Boston Globe

— Peter Terzian

The Boston Globe

This is a valuable book and a valiant effort to explain the importance of translation.—Chad Post, The Quarterly Conversation

— Chad Post

The Quarterly Conversation

In this slim but powerful volume, Edith Grossman argues that translation performs a function that is too often ignored or misunderstood.— Edward King, Sunday Times

— Edward King

Sunday Times

Required reading for publishers the world over. . . . It should also be given to all reviewers, agents, writers and readers. . . . In clean language that is a pleasure to read, Grossman argues why and how a good translation is just that.—Julie Rose, The Australian

— Julie Rose

The Australian

Grossman and others like her continue to offer us enlightenment. . . .[The subject] is passionately explored and patiently explained.—Richard Howard, New York Times Book Review

— Richard Howard

New York Times Book Review