Essays Two: On Proust, Translation, Foreign Languages, and the City of Arles

Essays Two: On Proust, Translation, Foreign Languages, and the City of Arles by Lydia Davis

Lydia Davis got bit by the language bug when she lived in Germany as a young child. Since then, she has gone on to learn other languages and translated many works into English as well as written her own works in English. The essays in the book cover a number of different types of translation. A traditional example is translation of a French work into English. Other forms of translation include translating English into more modern English and translating for herself as she reads Norwegian.

There is some long discussion on Proust. The work has already been translated and updated before. This gives many opportunities to look at the original and the various translations. There are a variety of tradeoffs in the translation. Sometimes there may not be a single word that matches what was in the other languages. Trying to get the flow from language to another can be challenging. Looking at previous translations also provides insight.

She finds translating a good way to "wake up" or break out of a rut. I see it as a creative endeavor that has some tight bounds. This provides a joy of understanding multiple languages and the comparison. She enjoyed reading a non-traditional Norwegian novel by Dag Solstad as a way of familiarizing herself with Norwegian.