Worldcrunch
Jesus spoke Aramaic, but the Bible has been translated from Greek. Many mistaken translations of the Gospels have skewed the development of Christianity — and the course of history. It’s time to let the Bible be retranslated to let its true message be known.
Russians want to publish a translation of Polish author Szczepan Twardoch’s bestselling novel The King — a confusing development given that the writer has just been awarded for helping Ukraine.
Sunnis were historically resistant to have this sacred text translated from Arabic — but especially into Persian, the language of a nation sometimes viewed as reluctantly Muslim. What does that mean today under the Sharia law of the Islamic Republic.
A recent bilingual edition of Shakespeare’s complete works has turned new attention to the English playwright’s lasting (but not always appreciated) influence on French literature.
As technology advances, machine translation threatens to replace the art of learning languages. Will we lose the cultural richness and personal growth that comes from mastering a foreign tongue?
Many international authors are available in other languages only after they are translated for the U.S. market. While this allows for wider circulation of work, it still determines the fate of many foreign authors, while sometimes losing their idiosyncrasies. Some publishing houses in Europe are trying a different approach. Will they be able to emancipate Europe from U.S. literary hegemony?
The phenomenon of retranslation is both paradoxical and inherent in every culture but it’s also a true source of vitality for literature, as well as pleasure for the readers.
A spurious happy ending and a focus on the marvels of the exotic East characterize our understanding of The Travels of Marco Polo, the book about the 13th-century Italian explorer. But the Italian writer who worked on the book’s latest translation reveals how focused on war, profit and money the explorer was — and how translators sugarcoated the work through the centuries.
Sign language services are relatively good in such Asian countries as Japan, South Korea and Thailand. Why do they lag in Hong Kong? An exploration of the island’s particular circumstance
Writers and translators in Shona, the most widely spoken language of Zimbabwe, have dedicated the past five years to bringing the George Orwell classic to a country that has known the cruel formula of human despotism first-hand.
After fleeing the war, many Ukrainian teachers have found new jobs in Poland. But their work involves more than just teaching — they’re helping Ukrainian children adapt to a whole new life.
Important digital innovations have been put into practice in the areas of translation, subtitling and text-to-image.
After the young Black American poet’s breakthrough at Biden’s inauguration, some say her work shouldn’t be translated by white non-women. One woman writer from Martinique says these critics are undermining the essence of translation.
The pachyderm was believed to have special powers, but was also seen as dangerous, and ultimately was transferred to a nature reserve. What does his story tell us?
BUENOS AIRES — “I’m in the literary gang and Borges is my godfather…” Serhiy Borschevsky is the “last remaining” translator in Ukraine of the works of the 20th-century Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. Speaking to Clarin on his first-ever visit to Argentina, Borschevsky noted that “Borges is very popular in Ukraine. His books sell out […]
Researchers at the University Of Macerata used volunteers and online bots to help translated the 19th century children’s classic.
-Analysis- By the end of Donald J. Trump’s presidency, people will wonder: Was there anything he did not say? Any line he did not cross? As a lifelong businessman, he has declared war early and often on diplomatic niceties, proud to speak “like the people.” The problem is that he is a person who speaks […]
PARIS — No matter where you live or what language you speak, at some point in your childhood you probably came across Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince). The 1943 poetic and illustrated novella by French adventurer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is among the best-selling books ever published. Now, reports Paris-based daily Le Figaro, the work […]
A speed bump sign in Reykjavik, Iceland. When I don’t understand the language, I’m always grateful to see road signs that translate across borders.
PRAGUE — Czech Republic was the first country I visited that wasn’t either Latin or Germanic. Czech, as I found out the hard way, is a very tricky Slavic language, one of those that rarely lets you deduce the meaning of a word and in which entire sentences seem to have been written by somebody […]
“It would have been more fitting for us to speak either Arabic or Turkish in this gathering today, especially given the common cultural heritage we share. There should have been someone present today to translate to Turkish. It is a shame really that we have to communicate in English.” — Orhan Pamuk at the 2007 […]
CAIRO — Amid shifting copyright and publishing norms, adaptation and translation of existing works is as contentious an issue today as ever in the literary world. The questions are particularly relevant for the Arabic novel, both for its recent and not-so-recent history. Many have accused Ahmad Mourad of reproducing characters from Naguib Mahfouz in his […]
Greece native Ioannis Ikonomou learned English at age five, German at seven and Italian at barely 10. He hasn’t stopped since, and is currently mastering Albanian.
What do a Pretty Woman, Charlie’s Angel And Smurfette have in common? They all have the voice of actress Celine Monsarrat, who finally drops the mask on a 30-year career of finding the perfect pitch for incarnating other people’s roles. PARIS — I started in this field a bit by accident thanks to an aunt […]
LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR (France), THE GUARDIAN (UK) Worldcrunch PARIS – Spanish fashion retailer Mango has issued an official apology for advertizing a necklace on its French website as “slave style,” blaming it on a “translation error.” Screenshot of the incriminating ad on Mango’s French website now removed French actresses Aïssa Maïga and Sonia Rolland quickly […]
BERLIN – In the musical “My Fair Lady,” Professor Henry Higgins expresses outrage at the “cold-blooded murder of the English tongue.” The guilty parties are the Scots, the Irish, the Welsh – and of course Eliza Doolittle, the Cockney flower girl from London with whom the linguistic purist falls in love. If Americans escape his […]