Why Is It Impossible To Translate A Book? - Walter Benjamin and the Task of the Translator

Summary

Ce script explore le rôle du traducteur et la complexité de la traduction littéraire, en se concentrant sur la première phrase du roman 'L'Étranger' d'Albert Camus. Il analyse comment les différences linguistiques entre le français et l'anglais peuvent affecter la traduction et la portée émotionnelle. Le script discute également de la philosophie de la traduction, citant Walter Benjamin qui soutient que la traduction doit capturer l'expérience artistique au-delà du texte, plutôt que de simplement transmettre des mots.

Takeaways

• 📚 Albert Camus a publié son premier roman intitulé 'L'Étranger' en 1942.
• 🌐 La traduction de ce livre en anglais a été effectuée quatre ans plus tard.
• 🔍 La traduction n'est pas une simple copie et collage du texte original.
• 👀 La première phrase du roman soulève des questions sur la fidélité à l'original.
• 🔍 Matthew Ward a proposé en 1988 une traduction différente qui conserve 'mama' de l'original.
• 💭 La traduction doit prendre en compte les différences linguistiques entre le français et l'anglais.
• 📖 Walter Benjamin a discuté de la nature de la traduction dans son essai 'La Tâche du Traducteur'.
• 🌐 Les mots peuvent avoir des significations différentes selon les langues et les cultures.
• 🎨 La traduction doit capturer l'expérience artistique au-delà du texte.
• 📖 La traduction doit être transparente et ne pas masquer l'œuvre originale.
• 🌟 La tâche du traducteur est de recréer l'original et d'allonger l'écho de l'œuvre.

Q & A

Quel est le rôle d'un traducteur?

Le rôle d'un traducteur est de capturer l'expérience artistique au-delà du texte et de la communiquer dans une autre langue, tout en préservant l'unité interne de l'œuvre originale.

Pouvez-vous traduire un mot en entier?

Traduire un mot en entier peut être complexe car certaines expressions ne se traduisent pas directement et peuvent exprimer des nuances culturelles ou émotionnelles spécifiques.

Quel est l'exemple donné dans le script pour illustrer les différences entre les mots 'mère' et 'maman'?

L'exemple donné est la première ligne du roman 'L'Étranger' d'Albert Camus, où 'mère' a été traduit par 'mama' en anglais, reflétant une nuance émotionnelle spécifique.

Quelle est l'importance de la première ligne d'un livre dans sa traduction?

La première ligne d'un livre peut déterminer le ton de l'ensemble du récit et représenter l'état d'esprit du personnage principal, comme illustré dans le cas de 'L'Étranger'.

Quel est le point de vue de Walter Benjamin sur la traduction?

Walter Benjamin considère que la traduction n'est pas simplement la transmission d'informations, mais plutôt une extension de l'écho de l'œuvre originale, visant à capturer et à communiquer l'expérience artistique au-delà du texte.

Quelle est la différence entre la traduction littérale et la traduction qui capture l'essence d'une œuvre?

La traduction littérale se concentre sur le mot pour mot, tandis que la traduction qui capture l'essence cherche à communiquer la profondeur artistique et émotionnelle de l'œuvre.

Quels sont les défis spécifiques de la traduction littéraire?

Les défis incluent la préservation des nuances culturelles, la transmission des émotions et la récréation de l'atmosphère de l'œuvre originale dans une autre langue.

Pourquoi les traductions littéraires doivent-elles être considérées comme des œuvres d'art à part entière?

Les traductions littéraires sont des œuvres d'art à part entière car elles demandent une compréhension profonde de l'œuvre originale et une habileté artistique pour la réinterpréter dans une autre langue.

Quel est l'impact de la traduction sur la réception d'une œuvre par le lecteur?

La traduction peut influencer la manière dont un lecteur perçoit et interprète une œuvre, car elle peut transmettre ou modifier l'atmosphère, les thèmes et les émotions de l'original.

Quels sont les avantages de la plateforme Lingoda mentionnés dans le script?

Lingoda offre des cours avec des professeurs du monde entier, des classes adaptées au calendrier des étudiants et un accès facile aux matériaux d'apprentissage pour améliorer la grammaire, la lecture et la compréhension.

Quelle est la conclusion de l'essayiste sur la traduction dans le script?

La conclusion est que la traduction est une recreation de l'original qui vise à prolonger l'écho de l'oeuvre originale, orientant le lecteur vers ce que l'original indiquait au-delà de la langue.

Outlines

00:00

📚 La Traduction et la Complexité des Langues

Le paragraphe 1 explore le rôle du traducteur et la complexité de la traduction, en se concentrant sur la première phrase du roman 'L'Étranger' d'Albert Camus. Il explique comment la traduction d'un mot peut dépasser la simple traduction d'un mot à l'autre et nécessiter une compréhension profonde des différences linguistiques entre le français et l'anglais. Le débat sur la traduction se focalise sur la décision de Matthew Ward de conserver le mot 'mama' de l'original français, soulignant la difficulté de traduire non seulement les mots, mais aussi l'attitude et le ton du personnage principal. Le paragraphe met en lumière l'importance de la traduction dans la transmission de l'esprit et de l'atmosphère d'une œuvre littéraire.

05:02

🌐 L'Inévitabilité de la Différence dans la Traduction

Le paragraphe 2 discute de la nature intrinsèque de la traduction et de la difficulté de recréer ou de refondre l'unité interne d'une œuvre littéraire dans une autre langue. Il suggère que même les meilleures traductions ne peuvent pas recréer l'original et peuvent même transformer une œuvre en un livre différent avec son propre unité interne. Le narrateur partage son expérience personnelle de la lecture en français et souligne la différence qualitative entre la lecture en langue originale et la lecture d'une traduction. Il mentionne son partenariat avec Lingoda, une école en ligne d'apprentissage des langues, pour aider les gens à apprendre de nouvelles langues et à approfondir leur compréhension des œuvres littéraires dans leur langue d'origine.

10:02

🎨 La Traduction comme une Réinterprétation Artistique

Le paragraphe 3 traite de l'histoire de la traduction et des deux principaux camps de pensée sur la traduction : ceux qui veulent être fidèles mot pour mot à l'original et ceux qui considèrent que la traduction doit capturer quelque chose au-delà des mots. Il se concentre sur la perspective de Walter Benjamin, qui voit la traduction non pas comme une transmission d'information, mais comme une expérience artistique qui doit être capturée et retranscrite. Benjamin soutient que la tâche du traducteur est de capturer l'écho de l'œuvre originale et de la faire résonner dans une langue étrangère, plutôt que de tenter de recréer l'essence même de l'original. Le paragraphe souligne l'importance de la subjectivité et de la créativité dans le processus de traduction.

15:03

📅 Publication du 'L'Étranger' et son Impact

Le paragraphe 4 est une brève mention de la publication de 'L'Étranger' par Albert Camus en 1942, indiquant la date et le fait que le titre en français signifie 'l'étranger'. Il suggère un retour sur l'importance de l'année de publication de l'œuvre et son impact, bien que le contenu soit très succinct et ne fournisse pas beaucoup de détails.

Keywords

💡Traducteur

Le traducteur est une personne qui convertit le texte d'une langue dans une autre. Dans la vidéo, le rôle du traducteur est discuté en détail, soulignant que le traducteur doit souvent aller au-delà de la traduction mot à mot pour capturer l'essence et l'atmosphère du texte original, comme illustré par la traduction de 'L'Étranger' d'Albert Camus.

💡L'Étranger

L'Étranger est le premier roman publié par Albert Camus en 1942. Le livre sert d'exemple clé dans la vidéo pour explorer la complexité de la traduction et comment la première ligne peut définir le ton de l'ensemble du livre, ce qui montre l'importance de la traduction dans la transmission de l'intention de l'auteur.

💡Traduction littéraire

La traduction littéraire est un type de traduction qui se concentre sur la conversion de textes littéraires d'une langue à une autre tout en préservant la beauté, la poésie et le style de l'original. La vidéo discute de la difficulté de traduire non seulement les mots, mais aussi l'atmosphère et la profondeur des œuvres littéraires.

💡Walter Benjamin

Walter Benjamin est mentionné comme un penseur clé dans la discussion sur la traduction. Son essai 'La tâche du traducteur' est cité pour soutenir l'idée que la traduction doit capturer non seulement le sens des mots, mais aussi la portée artistique et la poésie de l'œuvre originale.

💡Equivalence sémantique

L'équivalence sémantique fait référence à la correspondance de sens entre les mots d'une langue et ceux d'une autre langue. La vidéo explique que trouver une équivalence sémantique directe peut être difficile, comme dans l'exemple de la première ligne de 'L'Étranger', où 'mère' et 'maman' ont des connotations différentes.

💡Lingoda

Lingoda est une école en ligne d'apprentissage des langues mentionnée dans la vidéo comme moyen d'apprendre de nouvelles langues et d'approfondir la compréhension des œuvres littéraires dans leur langue originale, ce qui souligne l'importance de la connaissance des langues pour la traduction et l'appréciation des textes.

💡Préservation de l'essence

La préservation de l'essence fait référence à l'objectif de la traduction de capturer non seulement la signification littérale des mots, mais aussi l'atmosphère, le ton et la profondeur de l'œuvre originale. La vidéo discute de la manière dont cette tâche peut être complexe et requiert une compréhension profonde de la langue source et de la langue cible.

💡Albert Camus

Albert Camus est un écrivain français et philosophe existentiel, l'auteur de 'L'Étranger'. Son œuvre est utilisée dans la vidéo pour illustrer les défis de la traduction et la manière dont les choix du traducteur peuvent influencer la perception du lecteur de l'œuvre.

💡Apopathie

L'apopathie est un état d'indifférence ou de manque d'intérêt. Dans la vidéo, l'apopathie est mentionnée comme étant un thème clé dans 'L'Étranger', et la traduction doit capturer cette atmosphère pour que le lecteur puisse comprendre le comportement et la psyché du protagoniste.

💡Préservation de l'unité interne

La préservation de l'unité interne fait référence à la nécessité pour le traducteur de conserver la cohérence et la structure de l'œuvre originale. La vidéo utilise l'analogie de la peau d'un fruit pour expliquer comment le langage et le contenu de l'œuvre originale forment une unité qui doit être préservée dans la traduction.

Highlights

Albert Camus' novel 'The Stranger' was first published in French and later translated into English.

The translation of 'The Stranger' faced challenges in capturing the essence of the original text.

The first line of 'The Stranger' was translated differently by various translators, reflecting different interpretations.

Matthew Ward's 1988 translation of 'The Stranger' retained 'mama' from the original French, creating a unique hybrid.

Language differences between French and English make direct translation of certain words, like 'maman', challenging.

Walter Benjamin's essay 'The Task of the Translator' discusses the impossibility of perfect translation.

Benjamin argues that words have different connotations in different languages, affecting their interchangeability.

Translation is not just about making a text readable; it's about conveying the emotional and psychological impact.

The first line of 'The Stranger' is crucial as it sets the tone for the protagonist's apathy.

The choice of 'mama' in translation reflects the protagonist's psychological state, which is central to the novel.

Translation is not merely replication but a translation of an attitude that influences a character's actions.

Walter Benjamin suggests that the original work of literature has an internal unity that cannot be perfectly translated.

Translation is viewed as an extension of the original work's fame rather than a replication.

The history of translation is marked by debates between those who seek literal replication and those who seek to capture the essence.

Walter Benjamin believed that translation should aim to capture the artistic experience beyond the text.

A good translation should not cover the original but allow its essence to shine through.

Readers should focus on how a translation makes them feel and whether it communicates something profound.

The task of the translator is to recreate the original work's impact, not to create a perfect imitation.

Transcripts

[Music]

foreign

published his first novel under the

title The Stranger and the same book was

translated into English four years later

and today's question is what is the role

of a translator and can you actually

translate a word in its entirety so to

find out let's go find some books at

this bookstore

but however it turned out that

translating this piece of work wasn't as

easy as just copy and pasting entire

text into Google translate just as a bit

of an exercise let us pay very close

attention to the first line of the novel

in the original French

which in the first ever translation in

1946 was translated to something like

mother died today or maybe yesterday I

can't be sure so on paper it sounds

plain and simple you know memo kind of

translates to mother and malt kind of

translates the dead so mother is dead or

mother died today but it wasn't until

much later that someone can test this

original translation in 1988 American

translator Matthew Ward came out with a

very different translation that retained

mama from the original turning the first

line that the novel into not English not

French but something like a Frankenstein

of a frangli and to really understand

the decision behind this weird move

turning a first line of a novel into

something that is a blind between

English and French we have to get

technical and nerdy a little bit and

talk about the language differences

between French and English in English

the word mother can be modified to show

different degrees of how close you are

to a mother looking at you now

you're not invited go away but the

French word mummel according to an

article under New Yorker seems to hang

somewhere between the two extremes so in

that sense there's literally no direct

translation to the word mama in French

into English there are many different

examples of different words which cannot

be translated into English or English

words that cannot be translated into

anything else Walter Benjamin in his

essay the task of a translator competent

on this point where he wrote in a words

what is meant is the same but a way of

meaning it is not this difference in the

way of meaning permits the word boot to

mean something other to a German than

what the word means to a Frenchman so

these words are not interchangeable for

them in fact they strive to exclude each

other and now you might be thinking to

yourself yeah yeah these academics are

at it again splitting hair on a most

minute linguistical differences to a

normal person if a work of translation

is readable or intelligible who cares

about all of these tiny little details

or tiny little differences between the

translations but the problem with that

line of thinking is simply this the

right translations could work for

something very simple like a menu and

sometimes even for a menu it's difficult

to translate something in French into

English because most well French

restaurants from my own experience here

in Melbourne they still prefer to retain

the original spellings of the items on a

menu but the same Act of translation

when applied to something as complicated

as literature a piece of text that's

supposed to show you something make you

feel something make you cry Make You

Weep make you want to call your mother

things tend to get a little bit more

complicated you'll really understand

what the fuss is all about with this

memo and mother case we have to talk

about the novel itself for this whole

linguistical game to make sense The

Stranger paints a picture of an

apathetic young man named Emerson whose

mother just died and the same young man

went on to shoot someone later in the

novel for absolutely no reasons later on

this hooligan was sent on trial when

sentenced to death but he didn't even

care about his own death in fact at the

very end of the novel he declared that

he wanted to be hated he wanted people

to scream at him in hatred and now can

you see the importance of the first line

of this novel here it's not simply like

is it Mama or is it mother it denotes

the entire tone of the novel and I guess

to a point where mother or Mom or Mommy

they simply don't do the job of denoting

this very special apathetic

psychological state it forces the

translator to really consider the

differences it forces the translator to

adopt mammal for the purpose of

illustrating a psychological State

that's not too cold or not too warm

either the translation in this case it's

not just replication of a word or

translation of a word but it's actually

a translation of an entire spectrum of

attitude that determines the main

characters actions his temperaments and

his decisions throughout the novel and

in a words of Benjamin content and

language form a certain unity in the

original like a fruit and its skin the

language of the translation envelopes

its content like a royal robe with ample

folds for Benjamin the original piece of

literature forms a certain internal

Unity that cannot be breached if we

simply want to translate related into

another language Camus War choice of

memo is very much consistent with the

rest of the novel so for a translator

the first line marks the beginning of

their work marks the beginning of

retaining this internal Unity of the

work and a terrifying conclusion here

might be this even with the best

translators even with the best

interpreters even with a linguistical

genius in this Unity within the original

simply cannot be recreated or re-molded

in a different language because well

technically it's going to turn into a

different different book with its own

internal Unity so I think our friend

Uncle Ben here has a pretty good point

and based on my personal experience

reading something in the original like

um The Stranger in French and some of

the other French novels that I have

going on back there it simply hits

different in the original compared to a

translation and the only way to get to

that point of really understanding a

text in its original Languages by

learning a new language and to help you

sort out that kind of worms I've decided

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and thank you for supporting this

channel now back to the video essay and

now let's continue probing into this

question of can a piece of literary work

or literature be translated at all we've

just spent the last five or six minutes

talking about you know how a translation

could never reach the original it can

never replicate the original so when a

person's translating something and what

are they actually doing and to really

understand that we have to understand a

bit of the history

[Music]

now the history of translation can be

summarized in the following statement

people who speak a lot of languages

getting mad at one another or the same

case can be Illustrated with the

following painting where might initially

sound like just a scattered shouting

match actually has two pretty distinct

and clear camps of people the first Camp

of people are people who are completely

faithful to the original work they want

to replicate the work word by word they

want to pay attention to the syntax the

Linguistics to make sure that this piece

of translation is the they're kind of

like prescriptivists there's one best

translation out there and it's in the

air and everyone else's translations are

simply not as good as the ideal

translation and their idea of

translations basically Google translate

before Google translate they want to

replicate every single word they want to

get the word right they want this

perfect piece of translation out there

to dominate the entire literary Kingdom

and the second Camp of people are people

who consider a literary work to be a

little bit more nuanced than just a

collection of words they basically think

think that there's something else

there's something Beyond language that

the work is trying to reach and a task

of translation is about grasping onto

that not unto the words let me get this

jacket off it's getting a little warm in

here and also the historical part of

this video is over

that's better

[Music]

for the purpose of this video we're

going to take a look at the second Camp

of people who believe that there's

something outside of the wars that this

piece of work is trying to reach and one

of these people just happened to be

Walter Benjamin our favorite Uncle Ben

from the essay that I've referenced

before the task of the translator Uncle

Walter Benjamin started the essay with a

very bold claim no poem is intended for

the reader no picture for the beholder

no Symphony for the audience and then he

went on and on and on and on for what

does the literary work say what does it

communicate it tells very little to

those who understand it its essential

quality is not communication or the

imparting of information yet any

translation adding tends to perform a

transmitting function cannot transmit

anything but communication hence

something inessential just as a bit of a

side note Walter Benjamin was considered

as one of the most elusive thinkers of

the 20th century his work is like a

smorgasbord of different ideas and

different different ways of interpreting

literature which renders he's writing

kind of difficult to read and that

entire path simply boils down to this

thing have you ever had one of those

moments when you read a novel you read a

line where you read a description of

something and you go

oh that's amazing who wrote that you

know he's a genius or she's a genius or

they're a genius it is not usually the

case that when you have one of these

experiences of oh my God these glimpses

into the Beyond it's not the book trying

to communicate some fact to you it's not

about communication it's not about

transmitting information what really hit

you from the novel is something beyond

the text it's something that simply does

not exist merely in a linguistical realm

and the argument of Walter Benjamin is

that for a piece of translation to be so

obsessed with the function of

transmission or transmitting the

original work into a translation and

then you read the translation that

transmitting function is actually

secondary to the actual essence of the

literary work this is why Walter

Benjamin considered the task of the

translator not as a renderer of words

but as someone who's able to get in

there and sort of capture the artistic

experience outside of the text and I

quote but do we not generally regard

that which lies Beyond Communication in

a literary work as unfathomable the

mysterious the poetic and is this not

something that a translator can

reproduce only if he is also a poet

sometimes it takes an artist to

translate a piece of artwork and this is

why many of these translators or some of

the greatest translators are actually

fiction writers or poets themselves and

conversely if we get someone who doesn't

exactly understand the artistic

experience someone who's Uber obsessed

with the syntax of a piece of work if we

let such a person attempt at a piece of

work of translation it runs the risk of

casting the reproduction of meaning

entirely to the wins and threats to lead

directly to incomprehensibility this is

how you get certain bad translations

that are clunky as hell and when you

read a sentence you're just kind of like

yeah this is definitely not written in

English this is a very awkward

translation of German or something many

philosophical treatises felt pretty to

this very trap and many novels from the

ones that I've read well there are some

pretty bad translations out there and it

is usually the consequence of needing to

trans isolate everything by the letter

so the question now Remains What is the

task of a translator and how do we go

about selecting the best one out there

for us to read if we don't want to learn

the original language to answer this

once again we're going to jump back in a

wagon of this beautiful essay the task

of the translator from Walter Benjamin

unlike a work of literature translation

finds itself not in the center of the

language Forest but on the outside

facing the wooded Ridge it caused into

it without entering aiming at the single

spot where the echo is able to give in

its own language the reverberation of

the work in an alien one and that

basically means that a translation is

not supposed to enter the essence of the

original it's not supposed to replicate

it completely but it's supposed to

listen to the echo from the woods it's

supposed to listen to what this piece of

literature is trying to produce and from

the standpoint of standing outside at

the original a real translation is

transparent it does not cover the

original does not block its light but

allows the pure language as though

reinforced by its own medium to shine

upon the original awe the more fully in

conclusion Benjamin believed that a

piece of translation is in a sense a

recreation of the original he considered

the act of translation as elongating The

Echoes of the original or extending the

fame of the original work so when you

are entering the bookstore next time

trying to find a translation to a

certain work well maybe don't worry

about how good the translation is but

focus on how the translation makes you

feel is a clunky is it communicating

something more profound that's beyond a

text and maybe even talk to people who

have read the original and compare your

experiences and compare the insights

that you've gained from these two books

for a reader reading a translation is to

realize that translations are not in the

business of creating a perfect imitation

of the original but an exercise to point

you towards what the original was

pointing at Beyond language and that a

short is the task of the translator

thank you for watching today's video

essay and in the future I really look

forward to doing more of these more

Theory dense or or academic based gentle

introductions into this entire beautiful

field of philosophy literary criticism

and critical theory so hopefully I can

use these videos to both entertain you

guys and give you guys some extra

knowledge that you can chew on some

extra stuff that you can bring to a

literature degree and view this channel

as a supplement to your literary studies

if you've enjoyed this video make sure

to check out all the linked resources in

the description box there's going to be

a link to the original essay the task of

the translator and also on patreon right

now I host a weekly show called coffee

Wednesday where I get to dive into some

of the books I've been reading so if

that's something you're into consider

contributing and then again RC Walden

here thank you for being here and I will

see you in the next video take care and

goodbye

roll I was already rolling

in 1942 a

it's right the shot was bad

in 1942 Albert Camus published his first

novel titled the stranger watching

French means the French means no in

French

in 1942 is 1942 yeah it was everybody