Why translating literature is sometimes impossible | Mariam Mansuryan | TEDxYouth@ISPrague

TEDx Talks
5 May 201709:42
EducationalLearning
32 Likes 10 Comments

TLDRIn this engaging talk, the speaker explores the nuances of language and translation using examples from Russian and Armenian. They illustrate how language differences can affect the interpretation of literature, drawing on 'Harry Potter' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' to show how translations can slightly alter the reader's experience. The discussion highlights the challenge of conveying specific themes and cultural elements across languages, emphasizing the subtle yet significant impact of linguistic variations on storytelling.

Takeaways
  • 🌐 Language Differences: The speaker emphasizes the differences in how languages convey color distinctions, such as Russian requiring different words for 'dark blue' and 'light blue'.
  • 📚 Translation as Measurement: The analogy of translation to measurement is introduced, illustrating that translations can have slight variations or 'uncertainties' similar to measurement tolerances.
  • 📖 Cultural and Linguistic Nuances: The script discusses how certain nuances, like gender identification in 'To Kill a Mockingbird', can be obscured or highlighted differently in various languages.
  • 🧑‍👧 Gender Representation: The importance of gender representation in language is highlighted, showing how languages like Russian and Armenian require specifying gender, unlike English in the case of the name 'Scout'.
  • 📚 Book Theme Conveyance: The speaker points out that the theme of a book can be affected by the language it's read in, as demonstrated by the different experiences of reading 'Harry Potter' and 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in different languages.
  • 🤔 Reader's Interpretation: It is suggested that a reader's interpretation of a book can be significantly influenced by the language they read it in, potentially leading to different understandings of the same story.
  • 🏷️ Grammatical Gender: The concept of 'grammatical gender' is explained, affecting how objects and ideas are personified in languages like Russian, Spanish, and German.
  • 👶 Child's Perspective in 'Room': The script uses the book 'Room' by Emma Donoghue to illustrate how a child's perception of the world can be influenced by the grammatical structures of their language.
  • 🗣️ Language and Perception: The speaker argues that language dictates certain perceptions and conveyances, affecting how readers interpret and understand themes and characters in literature.
  • 🌈 Color Terminology: The audience's interaction with color terminology in different languages shows the immediate and practical implications of linguistic differences on communication.
  • 👏 Acknowledging Differences: The speaker concludes by prompting the audience to consider whether translations can truly be the 'same' book due to inherent linguistic and cultural differences.
Q & A

  • What is the main theme of the presentation based on the transcript?

    -The main theme of the presentation is the intricacies and challenges of translation across different languages, focusing on how language differences can affect the interpretation of themes and characters in literature.

  • Why does the presenter use the analogy of a ruler to describe translation?

    -The presenter uses the analogy of a ruler to illustrate that translation, like measurement, is not always exact and can have a degree of uncertainty or 'uncertainty margin', similar to the plus or minus in measurements.

  • What is the significance of the audience's interaction when identifying the colors on the board?

    -The audience's interaction serves to highlight the subjective nature of perception and the way language can shape our understanding of concepts like color, which can have different nuances in different languages.

  • How does the presenter use the example of the Russian language to explain the differences in color terminology?

    -The presenter points out that in Russian, there is no single word for 'blue'; one must specify whether it is 'синий' (dark blue) or 'голубой' (light blue), demonstrating how language can force a distinction where English does not.

  • What is the difference between 'uncle' in English and its equivalents in Armenian?

    -In Armenian, one must specify whether the 'uncle' is from the mother's or father's side, unlike in English where 'uncle' can refer to either without distinction, showing how languages can encode familial relationships differently.

  • Why does the presenter mention the experience of reading 'Harry Potter' in Armenian?

    -The presenter mentions the experience to illustrate that despite translation differences, the overall story and its themes can still be understood and enjoyed, albeit with minor 'uncertainty margins'.

  • What confusion does the presenter face when reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird'?

    -The presenter is initially confused about the gender of the main character, Scout, due to the author's use of English language nuances that are not immediately clear until later in the book.

  • How does the presenter's experience with 'To Kill a Mockingbird' differ when reading it in Russian?

    -In Russian, the gender of Scout is revealed from the beginning due to the language's grammatical structure, leading to a different understanding of the book's theme compared to the English version.

  • What is the concept of 'grammatical gender' as mentioned in the script?

    -Grammatical gender is a linguistic feature where nouns are assigned a gender (masculine, feminine, or neuter) that affects the agreement of associated words in a sentence, as seen in languages like Russian, Spanish, and German.

  • How does the book 'Room' by Emma Donoghue explore the concept of gender in objects?

    -In 'Room', the son perceives objects as having genders, which is a reflection of his confinement and the influence of his mother's language. This concept is explored to highlight the boy's unique perspective and the strangeness of his world.

  • What does the presenter conclude about the nature of translation and its impact on literary themes?

    -The presenter concludes that translation can significantly affect the reader's understanding and interpretation of literary themes due to the inherent differences in languages and their grammatical structures.

Outlines
00:00
🌈 Language Nuances in Color and Relationships

The speaker explores the subtleties of language through the example of color differentiation in Russian and Armenian, and how these nuances can affect translation and understanding. They discuss the inability to generalize the term 'blue' in Russian, which requires specifying 'синий' for dark blue or 'голубой' for light blue. Similarly, in Armenian, the distinction between maternal and paternal uncles is necessary. The speaker also touches on the experience of reading 'Harry Potter' in Armenian and the slight differences in meaning due to translation, likening it to the minor discrepancies in measurement.

05:02
📏 The Impact of Grammatical Gender on Translation

This paragraph delves into the concept of grammatical gender in languages like Russian, Spanish, and German, and its impact on translation and thematic interpretation. The speaker uses the example of 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' where the gender-neutral pronoun in English allows for a delayed revelation of the main character's gender, a detail that is lost in Russian due to the obligatory gendered verbs. They further illustrate this with the book 'Room' by Emma Donoghue, where the child protagonist's perception of objects as gendered aligns with Russian linguistic norms, thus normalizing what is considered weird in English. The speaker concludes by questioning whether translations can truly convey the same experience as the original text.

Mindmap
Keywords
💡Translation
Translation refers to the process of rendering text from one language into another, while preserving its meaning and style. In the video's theme, translation is likened to measurement, suggesting that it involves a degree of approximation and potential for slight variance. The script uses the metaphor of a ruler to illustrate the idea that translations can have a 'plus or minus' uncertainty, indicating that while the core message can be conveyed, subtle nuances might be lost or altered.
💡Cultural Nuances
Cultural nuances are the subtle aspects of a culture that influence its language and expressions. The video discusses how certain languages, like Russian and Armenian, have specific terms that reflect cultural distinctions, such as differentiating between types of 'blue' or specifying the side of the family an 'uncle' comes from. These nuances are integral to the theme of the video, as they demonstrate how translations must account for cultural context to be accurate.
💡Grammatical Gender
Grammatical gender is a linguistic feature where nouns are classified into classes based on gender, which can affect the agreement of associated words. The script mentions that in languages like Russian, Spanish, and German, the gender of a noun is mandatory to convey and impacts the choice of articles and adjectives. This concept is central to the video's theme, as it shows how language structures can fundamentally alter the interpretation of a text in translation.
💡Uncertainty
Uncertainty, in the context of the video, refers to the inherent ambiguity or potential for misinterpretation that can arise in the translation process. The script uses the analogy of measuring with a ruler to suggest that translations, like measurements, are not exact but have a margin of error. This concept is crucial to the video's message, highlighting the challenges of capturing the full essence of the original text in a different language.
💡Theme
The theme of a literary work refers to the underlying message or main idea that the author intends to convey. In the video, the theme is explored through the lens of translation, showing how certain narrative techniques, such as the delayed revelation of a character's gender in 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' can be lost or altered in translation, thereby affecting the reader's understanding of the work's theme.
💡Pronoun
A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun in a sentence, often to avoid repetition. The script discusses how pronouns can carry gender implications in some languages, unlike in English where a pronoun like 'they' can be gender-neutral. This is relevant to the video's theme, as it demonstrates how language differences can impact the portrayal and understanding of characters in translated texts.
💡Personification
Personification is a figure of speech where human qualities are attributed to non-human entities. The video uses the example of a child in 'Room' attributing gender to inanimate objects, which is seen as normal in Russian due to its grammatical gender system. This concept is tied to the video's theme, illustrating how cultural and linguistic differences can influence the perception of literary devices in translation.
💡Russian Language
Russian is an East Slavic language and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages. The script highlights specific features of the Russian language, such as the obligatory use of grammatical gender and specific verb forms to indicate gender, which can affect the translation and interpretation of texts. The Russian language serves as a key example in the video's exploration of the complexities of translation.
💡Armenian Language
Armenian is an Indo-European language spoken primarily in Armenia and by Armenian communities worldwide. The video script points out that Armenian, like Russian, has linguistic features that require specifying relationships, such as distinguishing between maternal and paternal uncles. This specificity is used to illustrate the video's theme of the intricacies involved in language translation and cultural representation.
💡Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn't literally true but helps explain an idea or make a comparison. In the video, the metaphor of a ruler with a margin of error is used to describe the translation process, emphasizing the inherent imprecision and the potential for slight variations in meaning when texts are translated between languages.
💡Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of fantasy novels written by British author J.K. Rowling. The script mentions the Harry Potter series as an example of a text that, despite some differences in translation, generally maintains its original intent and can be understood across languages. This serves to contrast with other examples in the video, where translation has a more significant impact on the reader's experience and interpretation of the theme.
Highlights

The speaker uses the example of colors to illustrate differences in language, showing that in Russian you cannot simply say 'blue' but must specify 'dark blue' or 'light blue'.

In Armenian, similar to Russian, you cannot say just 'uncle' but must specify if it's from the mother's or father's side.

Reading 'Harry Potter' in Armenian, despite language differences, the speaker still generally understood the story as English readers did.

Translation is compared to measurement, with an inherent small degree of uncertainty due to language differences.

In 'To Kill a Mockingbird', the main character's gender is revealed gradually, adding to the reader's understanding of the theme.

The speaker's confusion over Scout's gender in the book due to English allowing for ambiguity where Russian does not.

Different translations can lead to different understandings of a book's theme, as seen in the Russian translation of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.

In Armenian, pronouns do not convey gender, unlike in Russian where verb conjugations indicate whether the subject is male or female.

The concept of 'grammatical gender' affects how objects are personified in different languages, impacting the translation and interpretation of texts.

In 'Room' by Emma Donoghue, the son's perception of objects having genders is seen as normal in Russian but as personification in English.

Roman Jakobson's quote is used to emphasize that languages differ in what they must convey, not just what they can convey.

The speaker questions whether translated books are really the same, considering the inevitable changes in meaning and interpretation.

The importance of understanding the subtleties and nuances of language when translating literature is highlighted.

The speaker's personal experiences with language and translation provide a unique perspective on the challenges and beauty of cross-cultural understanding.

The audience's interaction and laughter throughout the talk demonstrate the engaging and relatable nature of the speaker's examples.

The applause at the end signifies the audience's appreciation for the insightful and thought-provoking discussion on language and translation.

Transcripts

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Related Tags
TranslationLanguageCultural DifferencesLiteratureGenderUncertaintyThemesHarry PotterTo Kill a MockingbirdRoomRussianArmenian