In school we've done really short haikus, but I've never gotten the opportunity to study the translation of poetry before. I really, really enjoyed both Ame Ni Mo Makezu and Pulver's translation. Although I had difficulty reading the original, I was still able to feel the same emotions from both versions, and I thought the poem was really moving. Something that Pulvers said really stuck with me: Distancing yourself from the syntax of the original may be the way to get closest to that original. When I read this, maybe this is childish of me, but I thought of that arts and craft project that you do in school, where you're given a drawing or a paper, and you have to rip it up, and use those pieces to make your own picture.
I also loved how this one writer says that Japanese is her ふるさと, and that when you translate, you want to bring poems home. I think that sentiment applies to any aspect of culture whenever you experience something different than what you know. These articles are continuing to open my eyes to the nature and the challenges with translation.
No comments:
Post a Comment