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A question for translators: How difficult is it for you to translate a story from your least favorite genre?
Are there certain genres you despise so much that you would reject a translation project based on genre alone? I'm really in seeing how a person's preferences can affect their ability to translate when it's something they don't prefer.
Last night, I watched the incredible Allison Markin Powell talk about the art of translation. From the audience, I asked, "What helps craft a good translation?" And one thing she mentioned was that it helps when the translator really connects/jives with the content.
Would I prefer to translate something I really connect with? Yes. But the reality is that many translators take on a project they're not crazy for because of financial reasons, and especially in the very beginning of their career.
But it's honestly hard to be picky at the start of any career. Though at the end of the day, translating is still work. It can be fun, but it has its frustrating and stressful moments too. It's a great profession to get into, but it'll definitely take time and patient research.
I will say, however, that it's perfectly fine if you dislike a genre so much that you would reject a translation project because of it. You absolutely don't have to translate anything you don't feel comfortable with. It's good to be flexible but not if it causes you distress.
Many translators reject projects if they're not comfortable, and I think that's smart. If you know you dislike something so much that you know you can't do it justice, it's best to step away if you can afford it. Don't sacrifice your sanity for cash. Trust me, it's not worth it.
There is a certain genre I'm not crazy about but I have translated it before and it was fine. I would prefer not to do it again, but I also don't want to rule anything out. Actually, I guess it's more about my aversion to the individual story than the genre itself.
considering my entire career thus far consists of one NTR game that can only be described as "self-pity simulator" and then burning out, i'd say it's pretty darn difficult, yeah!
I'm sorry, that sounds really rough T-T I honestly don't think I could do that, but I hope you get something that won't be so draining *hugs*
ehhhh, just think of it as making your skills better. That's what I did and I survived.
Yes!! That’s how I view it too :D it’s a good exercise in creativity xD
The only time I truly had an issue with the material I was translating was with Kamiki and the whole sexual abuse victim blaming thing. That's when I went to my editor and yelled :/ Especially because it was a shoujo title so
I dunno about "like" or "dislike" per se, but I think general familiarity with the genre in question makes a huge difference.
As an example, I would probably struggle to translate historical fiction well because I don't read that much of it so I don't have a good baseline for what sort of vocabulary is expected in the prose, what's the sort of genre "canon" it's playing off of, etc.
Whereas with something like high fantasy, say, I'm much more familiar with what's expected out of the story, what concepts the average reader will be familiar with, what meta-genre themes the author is working with.
Obviously interest plays a role, but I think technical proficiency with the work's subject matter is more important for me. I would do a better job translating a fantasy story I hated than a piece of historical fiction I loved.
There are generally few projects I'll reject on the premise alone. With games, the only hard and fast rule I have is anything simulator-y (ie: sports and driving games), but very specific people and agencies tend to have that stuff cornered anyway, so it's not often an issue.
Otherwise, I tend to take such projects as opportunities to broaden my rhetorical skillset. Good translation, in my book, always requires some sort of audience empathy, even if it's very abstract, and imperfectly matched assignments can be good for honing that.
I "only" did business-related translations and not stories, but an interest in the topic helped me a lot. It helped me to stay motivated on the umpteenth revision. It helped me to make better informed/intuited decisions because I was much more aware of the context.
And it helped me to guide my decisions when I had to make a call on my own: Which of the two or three possible translations hits closest to the mark? What did the author actually mean (when it was an ambiguous and/or badly written text)?
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