Found in Translation

particularly bad eczema shared a common German aversion to the standard
Western hydrocortisone prescription she’d been recommended in Europe, so
she was so thrilled when I took her to a Chinese pharmacy and found a
medication that improved her condition dramatically within a single day. I had
told the pharmacist that she wanted traditional Chinese medicine, but after
seeing her miserable skin condition, he gave her, yes, hydrocortisone.
I didn’t read the accompanying explanations when she made her first
purchase. Only later, after purchasing ten more packages of this wonder balm
for the same lady during my next trip to China, did I study the packaging a little
more closely on the flight back to Frankfurt and realize that she had been using
hydrocortisone all along. I wanted to tell her, but when I saw her waiting for
me at the gate with such great anticipation and fervent belief in the powers of
Chinese medicine, the thought of disappointing her and ruining the excitement
over her “miracle cure” made me change my mind. For years, the dear lady
wrote to me each Christmas to thank me for her beautifully smooth skin. Is
ignorance truly bliss? In this case, I like to think so.

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CHAPTER 4
Sharing Stories and Spreading Religion in Translation
To read is to translate, for no two persons’ experiences are the same.
—W. H. Auden, Anglo-American poet
Starving Artists
Literary translation is one of the most challenging types of translation work. If
anyone can attest to this fact, it’s Linda Asher.
1
An award-winning translator
from French into English, she brought us English versions of works by such
writers as Milan Kundera, Victor Hugo, and Georges Simenon. But in her day
job as fiction editor at the New Yorker, she has also worked closely with writers
in another capacity—as their editor. This gives her a unique perspective, one
that encompasses all major aspects of the writing process. As Linda explains,
translation can be even more challenging than writing due to the lack of
flexibility afforded in translation. The translator must say exactly what the
writer has said. “If the word that I’ve chosen has a slightly different angle and
skews the entire paragraph, I have to go back and get the right word,” she
explains. Writers, on the other hand, can change and rewrite their sentences at
will.
Contrast the level of skill required with this harsh reality: The person who
translates the bestselling literary masterpieces would probably earn more
working on a factory assembly line. Yes, it might be surprising, but the people
who translate the ingredients on the packaging for your toilet paper earn more
than those who translate the works of the greatest poets. Most people would
agree that translating literature is truly an art. The phrase starving artist could
not be more appropriate. There is very little glamour or money in literary
translation, for all but a minuscule percentage of the pool.
“Most literary translators are on the verge of poverty,” explains Martin de
Haan, president of CEATL (the Conseil Européen des Associations de
Traducteurs Littéraires or European Council of Literary Translators’

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Associations).
2
CEATL is Europe’s leading association for literary translation,
with an estimated ten thousand translators represented among its thirty-two
member associations.
3
“In many countries, it is simply impossible to make a
living as a professional literary translator,” de Haan points out; because their
income potential is so low, most literary translators also work in other
professions—as teachers, university professors, writers, or journalists. Some
also do technical or commercial translation work to make ends meet.
Just how poorly remunerated are literary translators? It depends on where
they live. CEATL published a study showing that literary translators earned less
than 50 percent of the per capita gross domestic product (GDP). In a slightly
different light, the average earning power of a literary translator was inferior
to the average wages in manufacturing and services in every single country
analyzed. Indeed, in the vast majority of countries, translators earned less than
66 percent of this amount.
4
In addition, translators’ names don’t typically
appear on the covers of the books they translate. In their day jobs, as
professors, writers, and journalists, at least they would be more likely to get
attribution where it is due—not so for their translation work. De Haan echoes
that: “Generally speaking, translators tend to be systematically overlooked as
authors.”
Where might the fate of literary translators be a bit different? Perhaps in
markets where reading for pleasure is a more recent phenomenon. Take the
example of Sudhir Dixit, who translated the Harry Potter novels into Hindi
with Manjul Publishing House. Owing in part to his translation, the first book
by J. K. Rowling sold forty thousand copies, quite an impressive number for
fiction sales in India. On the heels of this success, Dixit was profiled in many
of the most prominent local newspapers, discussing the particulars of
translation, such as his choices to use Sanskrit as a basis for spells that in
English were based on Latin or Greek.
Unfortunately for translators, the Harry Potters of this world are few and far
between. It remains to be seen whether literary translators will be better off in
the new world of digital media and electronic book publishing.