Found in Translation: In Praise of a Plural World; Quarterly Essay 52 - Softcover

Jaivin, Linda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1863956301 ISBN 13: 9781863956307

Publisher: Black Inc., 2013

Synopsis

Whether we're aware of it or not, we spend much of our time in this globalised world in the act of translation. Language is a big part of it, of course, as anyone who has fumbled with a phrasebook in a foreign country will know, but behind language is something far more challenging to translate: culture. As a traveller, a mistranslation might land you a bowl of who-knows-what when you think you asked for noodles, and mistranslations in international politics can be a few steps from serious trouble. But translation is also a way of entering new and exciting worlds, and forging links that never before existed.

Linda Jaivin has been translating from Chinese for more than thirty years. While her specialty is subtitles, she has also translated song lyrics, poetry and fiction, and interpreted for ABC film crews, Chinese artists and even the English singer Billy Bragg as he gave his take on socialism to some Beijing rockers. In Found in Translation she reveals the work of the translator and considers whether different worldviews can be bridged. She pays special attention to China and the English-speaking West, Australia in particular, but also discusses French, Japanese and even the odd phrase of Maori. This is a free-ranging essay, personal and informed, about translation in its narrowest and broadest senses, and the prism - occasionally prison - of culture.

"About six years ago, President George W. Bush was delivering a speech at a G8 summit, when, made impatient by the process of translation, he interrupted his German interpreter: 'Everybody speaks English, right?' ..." Linda Jaivin, Found in Translation

Linda Jaivin is the author of novels, stories, plays and essays. Her books include the China memoir The Monkey and the Dragon and the novels Eat Me and A Most Immoral Woman. In 1992 she co-edited the acclaimed anthology of translations New Ghosts, Old Dreams: Chinese Rebel Voices. She has also subtitled many films, including Chen Kaige's Farewell My Concubine, Zhang Yimou's Hero and Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster.

About this title

About the Author

Linda Jaivin's books include novels, a novella (Dead Sexy), a collection of essays Confessions of an S&M Virgin, and the China memoir The Monkey and the Dragon. Her 2006 novel The Infernal Optimist was short-listed for the Australian Literature Society Gold Medal. In addition, she has published many short stories and essays and has had several plays produced for the stage. She's also a literary and film translator from Chinese, a cultural commentator and public speaker. She likes reading, travel, food and other things. She lives in Sydney. Eat Me was her first novel.

Edition details

• Publisher: Black Inc.
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1863956301
• ISBN 13: 9781863956307
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 110