Ever wonder what's going on with high literary translations?
Me neither!

Still, I guest blogged over at Words Without Borders with my two cents on the subject as it was discussed at the Columbia U. grad student translation conference.

My big conclusion: The fact that translated works of high literature are read so fervently by translators who work with the original language, proves that translating is in fact an art. Translators can presumably opt to read the work in its original language, but they read the English to appreciate something other than the mere function of making it intelligible for Americans unfamiliar with the foreign language in question.

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