C0760 C1923
Thomas Lask talks about translation as a way to show the humanity of all. Rabassa (starting minute 21, first recording, references Johnny Cash!! "I walk the line"--on the theme of "the ear"-- he is really talking about sound and translation.... about tone, about translation as an instinctive business... Julius Zoolowski talks about his translations of English and American poetry and about the tricky subject of re-translations... asked about the payment of Polish translators, he says that you get 12 zlotys a line, which is equal to "a small glass of vodka" (3rd recording, minute 21)....Brendan Kennelly reads in Gaelic a poem by the blind wandering Irish poet Anthony Raftery (and other poems by others), and then his own translations, which he then discusses, esp. in terms of rhythm, and in general about the theme "Women in Irish Poetry". Ireland spoken about as a beautiful woman, because it couldn't be spoken about directly. Bashevis Singer comes in on the fifth recording, minute 17 (and is very funny) He talks about why he doesn't write in English, about the richness of Yiddish, and proves it by listing all the many, many ways you can say "a poor man" in Yiddish. ISB talks about the process and experience of collaborating with his translators. And also about his translation of "Magic Mountain" into Yiddish! Then Victor Alba (translator of the Brontes, Mark Twain, Hawthorne) talks about the problems of translators working in countries ruled by dictatorships. Irving Howe talks about the process of putting together the book "A Treasury of Yiddish Poetry" and the great difficulties in bridging cultural differences in the course of this.....
