Blog Post

Your task is to write a response that evaluates the study of literature in translation. Your response should demonstrate an awareness of specific benefits and challenges through references to today’s readings, as well as making tangible connections to the learning outcome from Part 3 of the course. 

It is quite easy to access literature in translation nowadays and not many people can tell the difference between English-translated literature and English-written literature. The reason is that translators put endless effort and time to preserve the authenticity of the original piece. To do this, they take the context in which the original piece was written; understanding of the context influences the connotation and symbolism every word stands for.

Unfortunately, it is not as easy as it sounds. Translators often misunderstand the context and translate in terms of the denotation rather than the connotation, hence, there is now a loss of authenticity and the author's intention. Conversely, even though the translators did understand the context, difficulties lie in the nature of languages; every language has its own characteristics and is distinct to all other languages. Due to this nature, translators have to make sacrifices when translating, as there may be some words in one language that are untranslatable in other languages or may be words that lose their symbolic connotation when they are translated. In conjunction to this, translators may unintentionally or, at times, intentionally add new meanings within the text by misinterpreting the original.

Despite the limitations, there are more benefits of translating literature. The foremost benefit is the promotion of global integration through cultural unification resulting from languages traveling across national borders. When languages cross borders, the cultures and traditions do so as well, as they are deliberately and precisely embedded in literature. Furthermore, this leads to enrichment of languages, as there unique expressions are shared.

All in all, translating literature and publishing in other nations do have limitations, but these could be prevented by the translator; the benefits, on the other hand, are immense.