Like-Blog
Presenting you the most interesting translation solutions
Why Like-Blog? Now, first of all, this blog is a blog that you should like (and read regularly) – at least, if you are interested in translation. Then, the topic discussed here is one in which the meaningful likeness between a text and its translation in the language pair English-German plays a key role. On this page, I will take a close look at some interesting translation solutions that I have come across in the course of my work as a translator and translation scholar.
A translation solution is only as good as the arguments that support it. This means that any translation criticism, whether positive or negative, needs to be justified. The quality of a translation solution shows only when we compare it to other possible translation solutions in a given translation situation. Therefore, a translation critic should not only say why a translation solution is bad, but also demonstrate what a better solution might look like. I will try to stick to these principles of translation criticism. So if you have any questions regarding my line of argument or if you disagree, please, let me know your opinion by phone at +49 4171 6086525 or by e-mail to bittner@businessenglish-hamburg.de. So much for the introduction. I hope you’ll enjoy reading this blog!
Alternative interpretations of grammar (November 2021)
In “Can Steven Chu Win the Fight Over Global Warming?” (Time.com, 23 August 2009), Michael Grunwald writes about Steven Chu: “[He] found his niche in the lab, building state-of-the-art lasers from spare parts to tinker with quarks and ‘high-Z hydrogen-like ions,’ preferring the rigor of experiments that either worked or didn’t to abstract theoretical physics.”
We are interested in the last participle phrase (“preferring [...]”), which appears as a main clause in a German translation: “Dabei gefällt ihm die Präzision der Experimente am meisten, die entweder klappen oder auch nicht, um die theoretische Physik zu abstrahieren.”
This translation is based on an interpretation that is grammatically possible but that makes no sense. After all, theoretical physics is already abstract, so there is no need to abstract it. The source text, however, promotes the above misinterpretation in that it features a direct object (“the rigor of experiments that either worked or didn’t”) whose length and complexity makes for the assumption that the preposition “to” must be introducing the infinitive of a verb – in this case, “abstract”. The resulting non-sense should have made the translator rethink her translation. Is there no other solution?
When you notice that the phrase “the rigor of experiments that either worked or didn’t” functions as direct object to “preferring”, the underlying grammatical construction becomes clear: preferring one thing to another. And immediately the semantic inconsistencies dissolve into nothingness. The German version might then run: Chu zieht die Stringenz der Experimente (die entweder klappen oder auch nicht) der abstrakten theoretischen Physik vor.