experimentaltranslation

[experimentaltranslation]

1.1 The Traduit Partouze (or: “translation orgy”)

Materials.

• A text, ideally written in language foreign to the majority of the speakers who will be attending the Traduit Partouze. The text can be of any length, but it is rare to translate more than 20 or so lines of poetry during a Partouze. 

• An invitation, indicating space and time, circulated liberally. 

• Drinks and snacks. 

Players. 

• A host to organise the event and welcome guests. This person may or may not be at the origin of the text to be translated, and may or may not play the role of reader or secretary. 

• A reader designated to recite the original text aloud, ideally someone with a working knowledge of the original, who can also provide context for the text being translated. 

• A secretary whose job it is to transcribe the results of the Partouze as they emerge. 

• An indefinite, potentially modulating number of guests to carry out the translation. 

Steps.

• The reader reads out the first segment of the text. This can be the first sentence or the first part of the sentence, but ideally no more than a few words at a time, depending on the translators present. This segment should be repeated several times, and guests may request for the reader to continue these repetitions. 

• Translators form their mouths around the sounds of the words, seeking words in the sounds of the foreign language. This is called “sonotranslation” by the Outranspo, but has gone by a variety of other names (“sound translation”, “homophonic translation”, “traducson” etc.). It consists of translating only the sound of a text, and not the meaning. 

Sonotranslation (span: sonotraducción; fr: sonotraduction): a translation that transliterates or 

transcribes the sound or the orthography of the words of the source-text using words in target language that may or may not have a relationship to the meanings carried by the source-text. The former case we call a Zukofskian soundtranslation, the latter one a VanRootenian soundtranslation. Also known as “traducson” [G.Genette, Palimpsestes. La littérature au second degré, éd. du Seuil, 1982] and “traduction homophonique” [Oulipo, Atlas de littérature potentielle, Gallimard, 1981, p. 144]. 

- Zukofskian soundtranslation: “Quick death, Catullus, what more horror may hurry!” (CATULLUS (GAI VALERI CATULLI VERONENSIS LIBER), translated by par Celia and Louis Zukofsky, Cape Goliard Press, 1969, poem 52). 

- VanRootenian soundtranslation: “Cuit d’Est / Qu’as-tu, lait / Cuit d’amour / A riz et morilles ?” (Marcel Benabou, Change, 19, Seghers/Lafont, 1974, p. 130) . 

• Translators speak out solutions as they arise. Some will be abandoned, some adopted, or taken up and modified, amended, extended. The process is collaborative. 

* Attention should be paid by all to democratize the contributions as much as possible, so that not one person or small minority is offering all the solutions, and so that those who wish to speak are given the space and time to do so (sound translation into a foreign language in particular can be quite difficult), and alternatively, those who simply wish to listen can do so as well, without being harassed or disturbed. 

• The secretary takes down solutions as they are ratified by the group. 

• The secretary reads back the results intermittently as the evening progresses. 

• A break may be initiated at a certain point in the Partouze or not. A return to the work may occur after this break or not. 

• Most often, the Partouze will evolve (or devolve) naturally into a party. 

• Following the event (or the hangover, as the case may be), the secretary transcribes the final results and distributes them among the participants, via email or other mode of document sharing. 

Variations.

• The Traduit Partouze may also be carried out remotely via a collective word pad. Outranspo calls this the Piratouze, named after the online platform “Pirate Pad”

• Collective sound translations are also wonderful options for the classroom. In this case it is advised to use the name “collective sound translation” rather than traduit partouze. The teacher acts as host. 

Examples.

1. Traduit partouze as détournement of an original text:

The Outranspo’s Satan Long Bell, collective translation of an Yves Duteil song devoted to the beauty and patriotism of the French language: “C’est une langue belle”. This experiment might be likened to the mondegreen, or the mishearing or misinterpretation of song lyrics. 

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WPrqJ8QXqA

Video edited by Jonathan Baillehache. 

2. Piratouze as homage to the prosody of a poem as well as a language learning aid.

“In My Home Country”/ “Ainée mienne unique”, of Mahmoud Darwich’s أنََا مِنْ هُنَاكَ (fix Arabic here). Bilingual collective sonotranslation hosted by Jonathan Baillehache and carried out by the Outranspo 

https://remue.net/ainee-mienne-unique-traduction-homophonique-d-un-poeme-de-mahmoud-darwich

3. Series of events in Paris from 2011-2014. I kept a blog here: 

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/traduitpartouze-blog

And also wrote an article here: 

https://www.archivescontemporaines.com/articles/2169

[experimentaltranslation]

1.2 Recouperation

Materials. 

• A text for hijacking. Text should be in a language ideally different from the one(s) the players will be assembling their poems in (but this can be foregone in a multilingual context). 

• A piece of paper or other writing surface to transcribe each player’s results. 

Players.

• This procedure can be carried out alone, but it is perhaps more interesting to try it in a group and compare results, monolingual or multilingual. 

Steps. 

• Hover eyes at a slight remove from the page, and allow words to emerge from the letters, collapsing the spaces between the words in the original and allowing new ones to appear. Alternatively, hunt for them by trying out different recombinations, abandoning the ones that don’t work and adopted the ones that do. 

• As the words appear, transcribe them onto a separate piece of paper. 

• Reread and edit, selecting your favorite words or the ones that go best together.

• Option: rearrange words or add some in to create a poem to your liking. 

Example.

• The following texts were recouperated by students in a third year creative writing in English class at the Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3. The source text was an extract from an article by Hamideh Mozaffari: “An Anlytical Rubric for Assessing Creativity in Creative Writing” translated into the 26 languages of DeepL. Students were invited to pick a language from the stack circulated around the room and try to find words, letters and phrases emerging from the foreign script. The recommended language for the recouperated text was English, but students were invited to deviate from this recommendation to recouperate in another language or to mix languages (or make them up). 

1. 

Burroway s central discipline

T o Imagin e 

L’amour

A visual process 

huma ne

in huma ne

direct

indirect

ma de

On a plate

Sara arrive s

Jean command s

personnification concept

fiction

- Recouperated from the French by Thomas Powderly

2. 

Ima sobre, Mama, Ima sobre, I sent a text, Mama. Nadie, mama, nadie. No grup, no juic. Image, television, image, voces, image, distance, image, creative, image, color, text. Mama Ima sobre and solitaries, tir… ed. Voces, line. Ima no sobre. Dial and dice. Dice and dial. Mama, dial, mama, Ima die, line, Ima no sobre. Dial. 

- Recouperated from the Spanish by Kenza Cavet 

3. 

Envole, Fly to write

      yapping around

      vowel

Mia envies jewell,

          apologies

smuggling, borax

emits yapping, evolves, evolves

rolls, años

Ideas, rainbows improve

     seven

Oh Titania

Oh Titania in mourning

Va to tower

     yapping

Va to sins, Rio

Quotes “Rapaya”

Paradox

Car to aware

Meow, meow, meow

- Recouperated from the Greek, by Gaïa Freby

4. 

all that

important ă dis dice plina plin

plees disthrs this spleen scnerj     scary

merge deport process

numerous ous

ous

us include us

detaliii iiii televizor

tell us vizor literal instrument

Morrison myson

similitudinii iiiii

filozof voce voce where

auditive ofer

  ă

- Recouperated from the Romanian by Zey

5. 

Imagine : n a p i s

p a r a di

   s     e. o       n par

w   it

h       principal         pi zza

t  oppi n   g s

a s pe p e

r   o   n

i. 

Prine

Peter

Second

Morrison

- Recouperated from the Italian by Elia Gagliardi

6.

The build is so central for discipline. The burrow's highway of creative imagination. Mills of sugar at night suffer the nomads of von Bedeutung, the great Khan. When night comes, his craft rolls as he processes the spleen. This Building is worst and older than death, odder than unused sins. Art is as elementary as flesh and truth. Abstract concepts die at night in churches, die for green sins. 

Suffering, death are veil of inner nights. Vizualize weirder toes direct from wise moguls and builders. Ciment signifies a detailed death. And indeed, undoubtedly, it signifies truth. Sigh such death that John's foul war, John's long echo also sings art. 

- Recouperated from the German by Ulysse Lhuilier

[experimentaltranslation]

1.3 Mess(e)

Materials. 

• A voice or voices. 

• Certain variations require a giving text, others do not. The giving text may be a single word or phrase. 

• A performance space or a recording interface that allows for layering multiple voice tracks.

Players.

• This procedure seeks choral polyphony, it is thus ideal to carry it out in a group setting, although one voice can be used and multiplied to create a similar effect. 

Steps. 

• Player 1 begins with a word or a short phrase. Repeat it in a rhythmic or sung fashion, creating a beat or grounding pedal tone (think ABBA’s Take a chance take a chance take a take a cha-chance).

• Player 2 translates or translucinates this word or short phrase and repeats it likewise in a rhythmic or sung fashion, layering onto player 1’s segment.

• Player 3 translates player 2 and so on a so forth until all the players have layered their voice.

• When the mess(e) returns to player 1, player 1 may stop or continue translating on from the final player, and then player 2 and so on, indefinitely. 

• The sound x x x can be repeated by Player 1 to stop the mess(e). 

Variations & examples.

The mess(e) is a form that has followed me for many years. And so I will give the variations and examples in the form of a timeline that should tell a kind of story, as well as present several ways in which the form of the mess(e) can be used as a creative writing, translation or reading exercise. 

1. 2010: Champs Requis/Required Fields

In this version of the mess(e) form avant la lettre, I used my visa application form as a giving text. In this variation, a word or a phrase is not translated and repeated, but rather, segments from the given text are broken up, taken a part, and translated, chasing each other in a round to give a funhouse stereoscopic choral of the original text. The lines chase each other between English and French across five voices. No recording exists. 

2. 2012: Festival Masnaâ, mess(e) lead by members of the “Laboratoire du contemporain”: https://recitsdansent-blog.tumblr.com/post/49844124669/transcript-de-messe-performance.

This making of a mess(e) was the first to be called by its name, the brainchild of Heta Rundgren. Here, four segments in Arabic, French, Finnish and Spanish were repeated rhythmically by four large groups of people spaced out across a large hall. Four single voices sang over the group chants to translate in gradual modulations.

3. 2014: Les quarante vies du Centre d’Etudes Féminines à Paris 8, Vincennes Saint-Denis.

For this event, the source text used was Hélène Cixous’s Le Rire de la Meduse, and embodied an experiment with the mess(e) as a form of performative reading, where phrases or words from the text (sexte, oiseau, ille) were materialized and spoken or sung in their original or in translation. This can be adapted for a classroom or workshop setting as a way of opening onto a dense text, by asking participants to speak, whisper, shout or sing (if they are brave) parts of the text that interest or trouble them. 

4. 2014: La Fhêta.

A mess(e) is also a wonderful collective birthday gift on a budget. In 2014 for Heta’s birthday a mess(e) was performed in a gallery in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, where bits of things Heta says, her particular expressions and inflections, sound bites or names of intellectual notions she invented were repeated in the prosodic fashion of the mess(e). 

5. 2015: Outransmess(e): https://remue.net/outransmess-e-un-poeme-sonore-et-choral

The Outransmess(e) is the version that comes closest to the one described in the steps above. It was recording during a 2015 Outranspo residency at the Chateau Les Hommeaux in the Loire. The starting segment was given by yours truly “on/off” and translated in mess(e) fashion progressively by the Outranspians present. The recording and production were done myself and Santiago Artozqui. The recording was recently put on display and played on loop during the Experiential Translation exhibition in Ledbury, English, curated by Ricarda Vidal and Madeleine Campbell. 

6. 2016: “Mass Transit”, a collection of sentences in an invented extraterrestrial language: https://lilyrobertfoley.bandcamp.com/album/mass-transit

These recordings represent the responses by a fictional extraterrestrial community to questions asked by a researcher in an unpublished novel, Glyphmachine. They are an attempt to create a language that would be purely performative, a play on the material of signifiers with no signified. As such, they fall into the category of the Outranspian constraint “neotranslation”:

Neotranslation (span: neotraducción; fr: néotraduction): a translation made towards a made up language, created specifically in order to make that translation.

This language is constructed by extracting rhythmic or melodic segments from the original sentence, without taking the original word unit separations into account. The different segments are sung/chanted in repetition and layered in the style of a mess(e). The results represent the purely musical and material responses of the extraterrestrials to the questions. 

7. 2017: “Entrelangue” performance by myself and Lena at the conference Poetry in Expanded Translation II on Intersemiotic Translation, organized by Jennifer K Dick.

My goal in this mess(e) was the multilingual renaming of different objects used during a drag performance by Lena (Christophe Beyler). As Lena presented different items I chanted new names for each (ex: “globe de bloodleather” “heedle harm” “popula miniliths” “cacamom” “tabulolololo” “patronade” “nom de pale” etc.), while separating the audience into smaller groups. I tied red yarn around each smaller group as I taught them the chant to rename the objects, and encouraged them to continue chanting as I moved onto the next group. In the end I cut each yarn and let them free flow. Some people kept chanting and many others did not. 

8. The present: Workshops and classrooms.

The form of the mess(e) reappears regularly in workshops and classes that I lead in a freeform way that is also inspired by a 2014 Red Rover reading series event in Chicago that was organized by Jennifer Karmin and Laura Goldstein, following a form they called the “Rumble”. The idea of a Rumble is an anarchic reading where there is no prearranged order or closed list of readers. Any participant is invited to speak a text within a time limit, following organically, intuitively, sometimes awkwardly, one speaker after another. It creates a collective space between apprehension and trust where the group can sort out a rhythm and adjust for the different voices. When I use this form as a workshop or classroom mess(e), I also invite participants to repeat segments they have written, translated or found in giving texts in the rhythmic/melodic style of the mess(e), or to answer and repeat segments spoken by others. 

[experimentaltranslation]

2.1 Renaming

Materials

• Names

• Something to write and play on. 

Players

• I often use this procedure as an ice-breaker in experimental translation workshops, and every year I begin my Master’s translation seminar with this exercise. But technically, this procedure can be carried out by any number of players.  

Steps

Renaming is powerful and delicate. For this reason, this first variation works best when players do not know one another ahead of time. This variation also works better when players do not yet know each other’s names (I also for this reason encourage them to keep their names secret until the end of the exercise), and is a fun and engaging way for players in a workshop or classroom setting to learn each others’ names. 

• First I present six translations from English into French (but this could be done with any language pairs and works in a multilingual classroom) of my own first name using the Outranspo procedures. 

1. Potpourri (Antotranslation: translating by the opposite). 

2. La lecture au lit (Microtranslation: translating morphemes, characters or radicals, the smaller units of a larger word).

3. Fleur (Endotranslation: translating by a summary of the original text).

4. Une entité fleurie avec de nombreuses variétés qui peut vivre dans un jardin ou sur un étang, dans un pot, dans un vase sur une table ou représentée sur un motif de tissu ou dans une peinture ou même cachée derrière une oreille ou dans un nœud de cheveux. (Ekphrasotranslation: translating with definitions or explanations for each word in the original). 

5. Blanche (Limentranslation: translating at the limits of a words meaning).

6. Lie lit (Sonotranslation: translating the sound and not the sense of a word)

• I use each translation of my own name to show in detail what each Outranspian procedure entails.

• Players are then invited to carry out as many of these procedures as they can, or feel inspired to undertake, with their first and/or last name. This can be quite varied, with some students taking to the exercise immediately and producing six translations of their names. Others will only produce one or two. This is also dependent on language pair (and on the name), as we’ll see in the examples given for the second variation. Some names are easier to translate than others (mine is particularly easy). 

• Going around the room, players read out their translations, along with the Outranspian procedure concerned. 

• In turn, other players try to guess the presenting player’s name from the Outranspian procedure (for this you need the languages used to be shared among multiple players). 

Examples

The following examples are taken from a small experimental translation workshop that met each week after the first year Master’s course translating French into English in the Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3’s Applied Languages translator training program in 2021. 

1. Liu Buyun

My name is made up of three Chinese characters, as you can see above. 

These are three very simple Chinese characters. The first one is my last name. Unlike the western way of writing names, in Chinese the surname comes first and the given name comes second. So you can just call me Buyun. This is my name.

These are two characters that are commonly used in Chinese. They are very simple.

步（bu）means to walk, or we say footsteps.

云（yun) means white clouds in the sky.

Chinese names all contain the blessing of family to children, for example, my name. When people see my name, they will know that her parents wish her success and success. You can also understand it as walking to the clouds.

There is some interesting knowledge that I found, when I researched how to explain my name in English that might help you understand.

A more accurate way to define Chinese characters is to call them “ideograms” (ideographical writing system), as opposed to “phonetic characters” such as in English and French.

The Chinese is a language where, when we see a word, we can find or get the meaning, whereas in English or French, those are the languages that when we look at a word, we try to pronounce the word. So Pictographs are only one of the expressions of meaning. and there are 6 different expressions : 象形、指事、会意、形声、转注、假借。

2.  何思宇 (He Siyu)

思（sī）

• Microtranslation：

The upper part “田” is derived from the character “囟” 

“囟” consists of two parts: “○” means the head, “×” is the symbol of where the forehead is. 

“囟” means fontanel (gap between the bones of an infant’s skull) 

The lower part “心” means the heart. 

“田” + “心”= “思”, which means what you think and how you feel. 

• Ekphrasotranslation: 

1. Think, consider: to have an opinion or an idea 

2. Long for: to desire greatly 

3. Lament: a crying out in grief 

4. Thought: the act or product of thinking 

5. Plot: the cause-and-effect sequence of main events in a story 

• Sonotranslation

Sound of a snake. 

宇（yǔ）

•  Microtranslation： 

The upper part: “宀”, a radical as well as a non-common Chinese character, means the house 

or the coverage 

The lower part: “于”, a preposition which means in/at/for/to/from/than/by… 

• Ekphrasotranslation: 

1. Eaves: the edge of the roof 

2. Dwelling: where someone lives 

3. Universe: all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars galaxies and all 

their matters 

4. Territory: an area of land under the jurisdiction of a state 

5. Appearance: the way someone or something looks 

思宇 （sīyǔ）

Endotranslation: knowledgeable with inclusiveness and openness 

Ekphrasotranslation: a mind as vast as the universe 

何思宇 (last name + first name)：

Sonotranslation: sounds like “reçu” 

2. 生悦 (Sheng Yue)

The meaning of my family name (生)

● Antotranslation (antonym): death/cooked.

● Ekphrasotranslation (description): the ability to breathe, grow, reproduce, etc. which people, animals and plants have before they die.

The meaning of my given name (悦)

● Antotranslation (antonym): grief/sorrow..

● Ekphrasotranslation (description): feeling or giving pleasure, the state of being content;

3. 科铭 (Yi Keming)

Variation

• In this version, students work together to translate the Outranspian derivations of their names either back into the starting language, or into a third language.

* This should be done in a safe space with players who know and trust each other, since, as mentioned above, naming and renaming can be very powerful intimate and political acts. 

Examples

• Working together, Liu Buyun, He Siyu, Sheng Yue, and Yi Keming carried out translations into Chinese for three fellow players with French names. 

1. Maélis:

a) Retranslation of Maélis’s microsonotranslation of her own name into three syllables in French: ma (possessive adjective), et (coordinating conjunction), lys (flower, used as a royal pattern, symbol of royalty and majestic allure) 

• 马 (Ma: horse; a common surname, although not the same tone)

• 与 (Yu: and or with; proximity) or,  羽(Yu: badminton birdie, feather), 瑜 (Yu: jade; a famous Chinese general wears this name and so the character also can mean intelligence) or, 嫒 (Ai: your beloved daughter; shows respect, shows that she is loved by all). 

‧ 莉 (Li : Lily flower, signifying purity). 

b) Retranslation of Maélis’s limentranslation of her name, which means Prince in Breton. 

• 王 (Wang : prince)

2. Léa:

Retranslation into three syllables of Léa’s microsonotranslation of her own name into two French syllables. 

• 李 (Li : very popular name in Chinese)

• 尔 (Er: someone who is gentle and erudite) 

• 雅 (Ya : elegance, beauty, usually used for girls)

3. Virginie

Microtranslation of Virginie’s name into three French syllables, the second of which is a translation of Virginie’s limentranslation of her own name into French, meaning jeune fille pure (young, pure girl, virginal). 

• 韦 (Wei : popular name in Chinese) or, 维 (Wei: unique. Rarely used, and is pronounced using a different tone from the first Wei). 

• 贞 (Zhen : purity) or 蓁 (Zhen: peach flower, used as a metaphor for a beautiful, kind woman. From a poem about a girl waiting to be married, it can also be used to describe someone waiting in anticipation).

• 逸 (Yi : Happiness and peace, outstanding) or, 一 (Yi: number one, first, unique. Different character but same tone as the first Yi). 

Extension

This exercise can be expanded to ritual form, by adapting Starhawk’s “Group Bonding Exercise” from Dreaming in the Dark:

(This works best in units of from four to eight people.) Sit comfortable in a circle. Ground, and center, and breathe together. If you like, do Tree of Life (See the description on page 30.)

Go around the circle clockwise. Each person says her or his name, and the group repeats it. 

The name can be spoken or sung. The group may speak it once or three times, and may sing it back to the person.

Now everyone closes their eyes. Again, go around the circle. Each person says his/her name, and the group repeats it. (Starhawk 108)

In Starhawk’s bonding exercise, players are invited here to visualize each person as they say their name, picture their energy and then speak out loud the quality or image they feel or see as they go around the circle again.

To adapt this to the renaming translation procedure, players are invited instead to translate the name, using one of the Outranspian procedures (sonotranslation for example), or choosing among them if they are familiar enough with the Outranspian procedures ahead of time. Alternatively, the renaming can be done ahead of time in a workshop setting and the new names spoken aloud at this point in the bonding exercise. Or, a pause may be set for writing. 

[experimentaltranslation]

2.2 Choose your own translation (syntactic translation) I

• The following is an experiment that I carried out using a sentence from P.T. Greach and Max Black’s translation of Gottlob Frege because it is the same text Craig Dworkin uses in his DEF, which adopts the Oulipian strategy of replacing each word in a sentence with its dictionary definition, and then replacing each word in the definitions with the definitions of those words and so on and so forth. Dwokin’s experiment is representative of a strong penchant in experimental translation for dictionary play, along with Jackson MacLow’s French sonnets and Tim Atkin’s Word Search #1 which all fell out of the holes in the basket of the above chapter. 

Materials

• A short source text

• Wordreference.com

Players

• This can be done alone, or the word lists presented to players as in the first “choose your own translation” variation.

Steps

• Select one word from each list of translations, without changing the order of the word. This can be repeated as many times as is necessary or possible. 

Examples

• List of wordreference.com translations for each of the words contained in P.T. Greach and Max Black’s translation Gottlob Frege’s sentence: 

Original : On the introduction of a name for something simple, a definition is not possible ; there is nothing for it but to lead the reader or hearer, by means of hints, to understand the words as is intended.

- From Gottlob Frege « On Concept and Object, » trans PT Geach and Max Black, Mind (Vol. 60, No. 2 » 8, April 1951) : 168-180, taking from Craig Dorkin, from DEF, in Paris (ed. Andrew Hodgson). 

1. allumé.e, sur, dessus, au bord de, dans, selon, suivant, pour, à, en, le

2. le, la, les, l’

3. introduction, lancement, présentation, initiation, insertion, recommandation, 

4. de, en, à, moins, d’entre, parmi, au sujet de, à propos de

5. un, une, les, certain, la, R, par, le

6. nom, prénom, patronyme, appeler, nommer, baptiser, mentionner, évoquer, citer, réputation, célébrité, personnalité, vedette, notoriété, renommée, connu, réputé, de marque, désigner, qualifier, dire, accuser, incriminer

7. pour, servir à, pour ma part, au goût de, pendant, depuis, à la place de, en faveur de, à cause de, en raison de, car, parce que, afin de, à destination de, de, malgré, à, que, sur

8. quelque chose, quelqu’un

9. facile, élémentaire, enfantin, simplet, simples

10. un, une, les, certain, la, R, par, le

11. définition, netteté, résolution, description, définition

12. est, a, se tient, fait, coûte, soit, se sent*

13. ne… pas, ou pas*

* these two to be taken as one obviously

14. possible, probable, crédible, éventuel, envisageable, faisable, réalisable

15. là, là-bas, il, là-dessus, sur ce point, voici, voilà, 

16. est, a, se tient, fait, coûte, soit, se sent

17. rien, zéro, vide, néant, nul.le, moins que rien, 

18. pour, servir à, pour ma part, au goût de, pendant, depuis, à la place de, en faveur de, à cause de, en raison de, car, parce que, afin de, à destination de, de, malgré, à, que, sur

19. il, elle, le, la, l’, lui, ça, ce, branché, chat, loup, ils, elles, le.a meilleur.e, le truc, un truc

20. mais, sauf, hormis, à part, excepté, ne… que, seulement, que, mais vraiment 

21. à, vers, en, sur, de, contre, pour, fermer, avec, envers, jusqu’à, quant à, en ce qui concerne, concernant, pour ce qui est de, dans, moins

22. conduire, guider, diriger, mener, causer, provoquer, amener, vivre, principal, premier, première, en tête, en l’air, plomb, mine, interligne, avance, piste, indice, introduction, exemple, direction, exemple, main, tour, première carte, fil, câble, laisse, client potentiel, vente potentielle, passer devant, attaquer, influencer, démarrer par, viser, faire avancer, devancer, démarrer 

23. le, la, les, l’

24. lecteur, lectrice, liseuse, relecteur, livre de lecture, maître de conférences

25. ou, ou bien, ou encore, soit… soit, ni… ni, ou alors 

26. auditeur, auditrice

27. de, par, près de, à coté de, devant, d’ici à, en, pendant, selon, après, fois, à, quart, sous, avec

28. signifier, vouloir dire, penser, penser vraiment, être sincère, parler de, avare, radin, méchant, piètre, simple, bas.se, mauvais.e, malveillant.e, usé.e, éliminé.e, super, sacré, d’enfer, du tonnerre, moyen, moyenne, moyens, vouloir, impliquer, être  

29. de, en, à, moins, d’entre, parmi, au sujet de, à propos de

30. indices, pistes, astuces, trucs, laisser entendre, faire allusion à, indications, soupçons, pointes

31. à, vers, en, sur, de, contre, pour, fermer, avec, envers, jusqu’à, quant à, en ce qui concerne, concernant, pour ce qui est de, dans, moins

32. comprendre, entendre dire que, croire, ratifier

33. le, la, les, l’

34. mots, paroles, formuler, bruits, nouvelles, ordres, mot de passe, évangile, 

35. aussi, comme, ce que, alors que, à mesure que, au fur et à mesure que, puisque, comme, bien que, en, en tant que, 

36. est, a, se tient, fait, coûte, soit, se sent

37. prévu, désigné, voulu, délibéré, promis, promise

Resulting translation and retrotranslation into English: 

Au bord du lancement, parmi certaines, accusées de quelque chose élémentaire, une définition ne se sent pas envisageable. Voici est rien, à la place du chat pour ce qui est attaquer la lectrice, ou encore, l’auditrice à côté du tonnerre parmi les soupçons, à croire les paroles en tant qu’est prévu. 

English translation : On the edge of the launch, among those accused of something elementary, a definition does not feel conceivable. Here is nothing, in the place of the cat for what attacks the reader, or even the listener next to the thunder amidst suspicions, which could be taken as words insofar as foreseen. 

[experimentaltranslation]

2.3 Les Mots-Gonds (Hinge words)

A mot-gond is a bilingual, or trilingual (etc.) homophone that can be used to connect language strings in different languages. 

Materials

• A list of mot-gonds, or not. 

• Writing material

Players

• At least two, working in relay. At the Outranspo residency in 2018, this was done in a circle, with each person responsible for starting off and then continuing a text in turn. But this can also be done remotely/asynchronously. 

Steps

• Player one begins a line and ends it with a mot-gond. 

• Player two begins the next line with the final word of the previous line, but in a different language from the starting line.

• Repeat. This can be done between two languages, between three, or several… 

Examples

The following is a small sampling of mots-gonds inventoried by Santiago Artozqui and Chris Clarke. You will find words on all parts of the spectrum between cognates and false friends. For a more exhaustive list, I encourage readers to find their own in their own pair languages! 

Choir

Rage

Vole

Lame

Correct

Opinion

Court

Front

Mine

Fin

Bat

Combat

Secret

Cage

Fit 

Clan

Pure

Vibrations

Plate

Age

Pain

… 

And here is an example of what Chris Clarke and Santiago Artozqui have done with them: 

Les Gonds de Gudrun

Choir, ô Gudrun, emmitouflée de rage !

Rage as she drives off… an intrusive vole

Vole au-devant d'une sinistre lame.

Lame though he is, she will firmly correct:

Correct et laid, telle est son opinion,

Opinion not praised by those of the court

Court en idées, et un peu bas du front.

Front, down the vanguard, she sidesteps a mine

Mine de rien, un rival veut sa fin…

Fin of shark, eye of hawk, ear of the bat?

[experimentaltranslation]

2.4 Infinite sense translation (multihommeauxtranslation)

Materials

• A single word

Players

• Any configuration

Steps

• Find as many hommeauxtranslations for one single word in as many languages as possible. 

Examples

• This procedure was inspired by Juliana Spahr’s introduction to Myung Mi Kim’s Dura:

There is dura as the dense, tough, outermost membranous envelope of the brain and spinal cord, literally “hard mother” as it is from the Arabic, al-’umm al-jalīda or al-jāfiya “the hard mother” and durare, to last, endure, in Italian, and durer, to last, to run, to go on, in French and durar, to last, in Spanish and dura, the feminine hard, stale, tough, stiff in Spanish and Dura as an ancient city in Syria and dura, as the Romanised transcription of the phrase listen up in Korean and Dura as the group of people who live on the hills of Dura Danda, Turlungkot, Kunchha Am Danda of Lamjung District and some adjacent villages of Tanahun District in Nepal and Dura as the language of the Dura and duras as a variety of sorghum of southern Asia and northern Africa and… 

• The following recording was produced during a session of the Atelier d’écriture multilingue that I lead in 2022 at the Maison pour Tous Marie Curie, a community centre by my house in Montpellier. Hanane El Hadifi, Michèle Huguenin, Najat Ouali, Rajaa Taleb, Nawel Taleb Ben Diab and I created the poem collaboratively beginning with the word Manou in Berber, and translating it into as many synonyms and associations as we could in Arabic, French, English and Italian. The poem in five voices was performed at the Maison pour Tous on June 9th, 2022 during the conference What’s the Matter in Translation/Traduction et matérialité. 

Download the recording here

[experimentaltranslation]

3.1 Choose your own translation II

This is a variation on Choose your own translation I, that can be found at the end of the chapter on Calque (p), but instead of using synonyms from Word Reference, it uses the selections from the DeepL Dropdown menu.  

Materials

• A source text in a language other than the language spoken by the players

• DeepL

• An excel file

Players

• A word accountant to choose the source text and prepare the spreadsheets for the other players.

• Although this can be done alone it is much more amusing when the word accountant carries it out with a group, ideally composed of between five and thirty people who have no knowledge of the source text or of the how the spreadsheets were made. 

Steps

Part I: Preparation (for the word accountant)

• Choose a short text. In the example given below, I used four lines from Eugene Onegin (verse 22): (This choice was inspired by Warren Weaver’s quote “Pushkin need not shudder” when referring to the inaptitude of machine translation for literary texts). 

Кого ж любить? Кому же верить?

Кто не изменит нам один?

Кто все дела, все речи мерит

Услужливо на наш аршин?

Whom to love, whom to believe in,

On whom alone shall we depend?

Who will fit their speech and action,

To our measure, in the end?

(translation by A.S. Klein, 2009)

• Plug the short text into DeepL.

• Clicking on each of the words individually in DeepL, copy all the options from the dropdown menus individually into the columns in DeepL, but selecting none of them (as this will alter the syntax). Here is a screenshot of the just the first line from the Eugene Onegin passage into English: 

Part II: Play 

• Distribute the spreadsheets to all the players.

• Without telling them what the source text is or how the spreadsheets were generated, tell them to create sentences (or lines of poetry) using ONLY ONE word from each column, and without changing the order.

• Punctuation may be freeform or you can ask them to respect the punctuation of the original. 

Examples

The following examples were created by students from my first year Master’s course in the History and Methodology of translation in the Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3’s Applied Languages translation training program. 

1. 

Qui dois-je choisir ? Envers qui devons-nous avoir confiance entièrement ?

Qui ne nous trahit, va trahire, pas seulement lui-même.

Elle mesure, pèse, chaque geste, ce qu'accomplissent toutes les paroles, les discours et témoignages.

Selon notre seule grandeur, qui représente notre propre mensonge.

____

I wonder, will we love trust ? Which man shall be trusted, really ?

Who cannot stay fool ? The only one on his own.

The man does all works, all speeches

With the help of your arms.

- Sabryna De Nazaré Rodrigues Ribamar

2. 

Qui faut-il choisir ? Qui pouvons-nous, qui peut-on ? Faire confiance, nous confier, entièrement.

Qui ne nous trahirait se risque. Trahirons-nous ? Pas seuls, sans aide.

Celui qui évalue est capable. Tous les gestes, et toutes les actions. Toutes les paroles et les discours et mots.

Dans la mesure, une mesure, manière qui nous est la nature propre.

____

Who is there to trust ? Whom shall they believe ? Lie.

Who is the only stick, fool ? One of us, again.

The man doeth the things. Dealings, lies, tongues.

In the way, an arrow, help ! In the hand, ear, arms !

- Joan Simpson

3.

But who should choose, which person shall we believe, be trusted and who doesn’t always deceive us in this life. He who doeth all the deeds acts, every conversation our serviceable ears by which we stare

Mais qui devrait choisir, quelle personne devrions nous croire, lui accorder notre confiance et qui ne nous déçois jamais dans cette vie. Celui qui commet toutes les actions agit, chaque conversation que nos oreilles serviables par lesquels nous contemplons.

- Aymeric Bourru

4. Who to trust? On whom can we rely? 

Who will never betray us in this world? 

Who weighs all his deeds, as well as words, 

Without the help of our ears?

- He Siyu

Variations

A wonderful variation on this is to follow the example set by Bloomfield’s Deep Dante and use the dropdown menus on DeepL to create a translation collaged from the proliferative potentials given for each segment. This allows players the possibility of varying and playing with syntax as well. 

For those interested in militant strategies to work against the imperial homogenizing effect of machine translation, or to prolong the lifespan of artisanal human authored translation work, I invite all readers, next time they use DeepL, to carry out a short translation choosing the last word from each dropdown menu. 

Alternatively, you can simply visit DeepL regularly and ask it to translate nonsense poetry. 

[experimentaltranslation]

3.2 Lutz to speech

The following is a script for a set of procedures I carried out at a seminar for the research group TRACT (Traduction et Communication Transculturelle) at the Université Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle on February 24th, 2022. The theme for the seminar that year was devoted to the machine translation of literature.

Materials

• Lines 30-34 of Theo Lutz’s Stochastiche Texte (originally published in: augenblick 4 (1959), H. 1, S. 3-9). Full English translation of original publication by Helen MacCormac, 2005 can be found here: https://www.stuttgarter-schule.de/lutz_schule_en.htm

EIN BILD IST FREI ODER EIN FREMDER IST TIEF. EIN GAST IST TIEF UND KEIN TURM IST FERN. EIN GAST IST LEISE. JEDES BILD IST FERN. EIN TISCH IST OFFEN. JEDER KNECHT IST FREI.

• The above lines translated into the 26 languages of DeepL, and printed in 24 point font with large spaces between each word. 

The translation can be done with any machine translator; I chose DeepL for practical reasons as 26 languages seemed more reasonable than the 109 on Google translate at the time of the seminar. 

• Scissor.

• Envelopes corresponding in number to the languages. 

• Pen.

• At least one smartphone with a Google translation app.

Players 

• Workshop leader to distribute the envelopes, record the voice recognition translations if necessary, and read the Google translations out at the end or guide player sharing. 

2. Each person is invited to play with one or more envelope, although I recommend no more than five or six languages per smartphone with app installed. 

Steps

Part I (preparation): 

• The words from each translation are cut up and placed into envelopes along with slips of paper containing the following instructions: 

Make a poem out of the words in the envelope.

No, it doesn’t matter if you understand them.

If you can't use them all that's okay. 

Don't add any words or repeat any words that are not already repeated.

• The envelopes are sealed and labeled with the name of the language of the cut up translation inside. 

Part II (play): 

• Workshop leader calls out the names of languages on the envelopes, instructing players to choose languages whose alphabets they can decipher, although it does not matter if they can speak the language(s) they choose or not. 

• Upon opening the envelopes, players can be instructed to break the rules, or not. 

• Players arrange the words in the envelope however they wish.

• They can then use their own smartphones or workshop leader can circulate with their own, or designate other Google translators. 

• Players read their cut up translation into the voice recognition software on the Google Translation App. It does not matter whether they speak the language or not, but they should be able to read the alphabet. 

• Photos can be taken of the original cut ups. 

• Screen shots can be taken of the results from the app. 

• In addition or alternatively, the translations can be carried out using the Google lens translation feature that translates using photo recognition of text. Make this even more fun by waving a hand in front of the translation to disturb the results. 

Examples

• Hungarian 

• Czech 

• Spanish

[experimentaltranslation]

3.3 Blind faith translation in six steps

This procedure is inspired by Mahwash Shoaib’s translations from Urdu into English of poems from Kishwar Naheed’s Sokhta Samani-e-Dil / Composition of a Scorched Heart and published in Chain 10 in 2003. 

Shoaib’s translation is carried out across six steps, which in their original state provide an excellent procedure for translation experimentation alone or in a workshop or classroom setting.

Materials

• Source text

• Dictionary 

Players

• Can be done alone or in groups, or individually with one single text and the results shared for example in a classroom setting. 

Steps

• A ‘blind faith’ translation is carried out by the translator. 

A ‘blind faith’ translation uses no external resources apart from the translator’s internal knowledge and ingenuity. The purpose of a blind faith translation in a teaching context is to reconnect students with their translation intuition, and help them develop their translational voice and creative instincts. For example, I deduct many ‘points’ for omissions in the case of blind faith translations but no points for words not known, and even give plus points for a valiant guess or a clever ‘workaround’ (creative solution to not knowing a word). It also has the added benefit of showing them that compulsively returning to dictionaries or online resources can actually waste time, and to help them remember when and how to trust their gut. 

• A rewriting of the blind faith with the aid of dictionaries, the internet, machine translation or other translator aids.

• A word-for-word calqued translation of the original. Shoaib refers to this as a ‘transliteration’. 

• Final translation that synthesizes elements from the first three translations.

• A retranslation back into the departure language of the original.

• Commentary or discussion comparing each of the translations of the first five steps. 

Variation

- In one of the courses I teach in the Applied Language’s Translation Master’s program at Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, I traditionally have students carry out a blind faith translation and compare it to DeepL in order to create a third amalgam translation along with a commentary. In a final step I ask them to turn this into a creative translation as a final project (also with commentary). 

[experimentaltranslation]

4.1 Grammatically extended neotranslation

This procedure for neotranslation is based on a collective and a posteriori approach to language invention. 

Materials

• A text for translation

• Usefully, a white board or a computer and projector upon which to display generated results as they emerge. I use a framapad in the example below, which was ideal because it enabled users to carry out their own distortions directly, and to aid collectively in the recording and transformation processes (each colour indicates a different scribe). 

Players

• A scribe to apply the different shifts suggested by the other players.

• A moderator (who may or may not be the same person as the scribe) to direct the collective play of invention. 

• Anywhere from 5 to 25 participants, all or most of whom have some knowledge of at least two languages; ideally the languages differ from one another. 

Steps

• The moderator presents the text to the public, providing context and interpretation if they wish.

• Carry out a gloss (a literal, word-for-for translation) of the original into a second language. 

• Working in pairs, players choose a grammatical rule or structure from another language to apply to the gloss. 

• The moderator works around the room calling on participants while the scribe applies the rules in collaboration and discussion with the other players, and always maintaining contact with the original departure text and language. 

Variation

• This procedure can also be carried out homolinguistically, working from the original text without translating into a second language first and applying the foreign language grammar structures directly to the departure language. In this case, players would skip the second step which indicates to carry out a gloss of the original into a second language. 

• This procedure can also be carried out in isolation, but this would more closely resemble classic language invention. A useful guide for getting started with a posteriori language invention can be found in D J Peterson (2015) The Art of Language Invention. New York, Penguin Books. 

Example

• This example is a translation into a grammatically extended French of the passage from Nicole Van Harskamp’s PDGN cited at the beginning of the chapter carried out during a workshop at the Friction des Langues journées d’études at Université Paris 3 Sorbonne-Nouvelle on April 29th, 2022. 

List of distortions and applications to an original sentence spoken by the character Chingshi in the film PDGN. 

For distortions inspired by other languages, those languages are listed in parentheses after the distortion

French gloss : J’ai entendu qu’au nord, on apprend une langue inventée où tout est nouveau.

1. le verbe est toujours en 5ème position, ce qui interdit toute phrase à moins de 5 unités à moins de marquer des pauses, blancs... 

The verb is always in fifth position, which prohibits any phrase with fewer than five units unless marked by pauses, spaces… 

Je qu'au nord ai entendu, on une langue inventée apprend où tout nouveau - est

2. Le futur s'exprime toujours par le verbe avoir + à au présent (inspiré du barese)

The future is always expressed by the verb to have (avoir) + à in the present (Barese)

Je qu'au nord ai à entendre, on une langue inventée a à apprendre où tout nouveau - a à être

3. Inversion de l'ordre des adjectifs par rapport aux substantifs (par exemple : ma préférée couleur) (anglais)

Inversion of the order of adjectives and substantives (for example: my préférée couleur instead of couleur préférée) (English)

Je qu'au nord ai à entendre, on une inventée langue a à apprendre où tout nouveau - a à être

4. les "e" en début de mot sont toujours muets

E’s at the beginning of words are mute (signified by an apostrophe ’ )

Je qu'au nord ai à 'ntendre, on une inventée langue a à apprendre où tout nouveau - a à 'tre

5. les propos rapportés sont indiqués par le suffixe -pli accolé au premier verbe de la phrase de l'information rapporté (fictional suffix distantly inspired by the structures of quechua)

Reported speech is indicated by the suffix -pli attached to the first verb of the sentence in which the information is reported. 

En le nord, apprend-pli une inventée langue où tout nouveau - a à 'tre

6. confusion s'exprime toujours par le verbe avoir au présent

Confusion is always expressed by the verb avoir in the present.

En le nord, apprend-pli une inventée langue où tout nouveau - a à 'tre

7. Inversion (par rapport au français) des genres des noms 

Inversion (with regard to French) of the genders of nouns. 

En la nord, apprend-pli un inventé langue où toute nouveau - a à 'tre

8. Inversion des syntagmes tous les deux syntagmes sauf pour le verbe 

Inversion of syntagms every other syntagm except for the verb. 

apprend-pli en la nord un inventé langue - a à 'tre où toute nouveau 

9. Pas de distinction féminin/masculin dans les adjectifs 

No feminine or masculine distinction for adjectives

apprend-pli en la nord un invent§ langue - a à 'tre où toute nouv§

10. Contraction des couples adjectif-substantif en soustrayant la dernière syllabe du premier terme du couple, et la première du second (lune diaphane -> luphane) (cette proposition vient du chinois) 

Contraction of adjective-substantive pairs by subtracting the last syllable from the first term in the pair, and the first syllable from the second term (lune diaphane -> luphane) (Chinese)

apprend-pli en la nord un invengue - a à 'tre où toutouv§ 

11. En cas d'emploi du féminin il se positionne toujours comme premier mot de la phrase, indépendamment de sa fonction grammaticale - ou le sujet de la phrase est toujours féminin

Feminine words, when used, are always placed as the first word in a sentence, regardless of its grammatical subject – or the subject of a sentence is always feminine. 

apprend-pli en la nord un invengue - a à 'tre où toutouv§ 

12. pas d'article du tout pour les noms (ni défini, ni indéfini, ni partitif, ni démonstratif ni possessif etc) cf latin et langues slaves (mais ces langues ont des démonstratifs et possessifs)

No articles for any nouns (neither definite, indefinite, partitive, demonstrative, possessive or otherwise) (Latin and Slavic languages, although these languages do have demonstratives and possessives) 

apprend-pli en nord invengue - a à 'tre où toutouv§  

 13. On remplace toutes les 4 voyelles nasales par une seule (à peu près an) : explique un lapin devient "an lapan" etc (cf beaucoup de mes élèves débutants du monde entier, je suis prof de FLE

apprand-pli an nord anvangue - a à 'tre où toutouv§  

 14. Post-position à la fin de la phrase des informations concernant le lieu;

Substitution de l'information de lieu sur la base de sa direction (en le nord = en le dessus) (inspiré du napolitain) - pour le cas de "centrale" = entre dessus et en bas (faux calque de "entre chien et loup")

Postposition at the end of a sentence of information relating to place. Substitution of place related information with information on directionality : en le nord (in the north) = en le dessus (in the above) (Neapolitan). 

« Centrale » becomes « entre dessus et en bas » (between above and below). This is a faulty calque of the French « entre chien et loup » meaning “twilight” (between twi and light)

à je apprand-pli an dessus anvangue - a à 'tre où toutouv§  

Download framapad version with colors here

[experimentaltranslation]

4.2 N-gram translation

Materials

• A phrase and its translation

• Word, excel, pen and paper or other interface upon which a grid can be made. (This can also probably be done much faster using software if you have the resources to do so.)

Steps

• Copy out each word of the phrase in the departure language along both the y and x axes of a grid. 

• Copy out each word of the phrase in the arrival language along both the y and x axes of a grid.

• Choose a word-window, that is, the number of words that you will consider together in order to measure their frequency of co-occurrence. This number is what will determine the n in your n-gram translation. For example 1-gram measures the frequency with which one word appears next to another; 2-gram measures the frequency within which a word appears within the two words surrounding another, and so on. 

• For each cell along the intersections, copy down how many times those words appear in proximity to another according to the number of elements in the word window you have chosen. 

• Once you have calculated all the frequencies of co-occurrences for each combination according to your word-window, write a line of words whose value is 0. Write another line whose value is 1, and then 2 and so on.

• Carry out this same step in the second language.

• Each line with a given value in the departure language can then be read as equivalent to a line with that same given value in the arrival language. 

Example

Below you will find phrases calculated from a matrix that I prepared using a line from Theo Lutz’s “Stochastiche Texte” in English and French translations. 

Download the full Lutz Matrix here

https://www.dropbox.com/s/b8dujmgi47x9qt6/Lutz%20matrix.pdf?dl=0

[experimentaltranslation]

4.3 Translating (into) acrostics or anagrams

Materials

• A source text or

• An acrostic (or mesostic) or anagram for translation or co-simultaneous heterolingual construction.

Examples

Co-simultaneous heterolingual construction of an anagram: 

• Noel’s “I can’t breath/no puedo respirar” (Transversal 21)

From a source text not originally written in an acrostic or an anagram:

• De la Torre’s T20: “Translation of the poem smuggled inside another poem as an acrostic”; “T23: Anagrammatic translation permutating all the letters in the original Spanish into English language words”; “T24: Anagrammatic translation permutating all the letters in an English version of the original into Spanish-language words, and its corresponding translation into English” (Repetition 72-23).

[experimentaltranslation]

5.1 Translate like Elisa Sampedrín

Materials.

• A text written in a language not spoken by the translators. The text should be one that has already been well translated by someone else. 

*Translating from a language one does not speak can be problematic depending on the positionality of the players involved. One might want to avoid Poundian essentializing over the mystical exoticism of the structures of languages and alphabet one knows nothing about. One might also want to avoid post-colonialist mechanisms of appropriation that erase the sense and significance of the original. The way to get out of this is to do what Moure does and translate texts that have already been well translated. 

Players.

• One, or several if carried out in a workshop or classroom context

Steps.

• Consider the text rather than read it. Worm one’s way in through the form, using techniques of experimental translation such as sonotranslation (or its equivalent on the alphabet level), calque, paleotranslation or limentranslation, translating by way of known or imagined root words or through associations and imagined bilingual homophones. Liberate sense from form and form from matter, as in a traduit partouze, but intimately. 

Examples

1. 

a) Original by Aurelia Lassaque written in Occitan, extracted from her book Pour que chantent les salamandres (2013), p. 40

Sant-Joan

La Nuèch

La bèla bala sola suls camins

Per las estèlas e per la salvatgina.

Sas mans penjadas al cèl,

daissa lo vent la vesitar.

Son rire se mescla al cant d’aucèls de nuèch allucinats. 

b) Translations carried out by Nia Davies, who does not speak Occitan and was not informed of the source text or language.

Siwan

The Kidney

The pretty protein does its work

the stars are out for salvaging

Those hands gestate quick as risk,

an organ cannot speak

Some rivers are middleweight; a kidney moves a little weight.

The notch

Don’t think of the kidney’s tubes snipped away

Skip happy into the coming poiesis

Cells regenerate so re-ripple up 

Through cell life & love

River through the roads of the body

A hundred or so more years 

Treasure of Saint Siwan

Visiting the mouth of the organ chest

A gift of the hands out to see

Daubing, poietic chitterlings

Breathing out and in to see 

Cellular trips through the springs, our siblingness

Because the notch shines

c) Transplanted source text (also by Nia Davies):

Are there any long-term risks of living with suls camins? It is important to be aware that, although risks across the board are generally very low, every individual is different and it is possible for other uncommon complications to occur. For example, although rare, on-going fatigue and persistent pain have been reported by small numbers of the thousands of living donors. However, most La bèla bala sola lead a normal, healthy life after they have donated and are able to do all the activities that they were doing before. What are the side effects of e par la salvatgina with one Nuèch? Some La Nuèch have indicated that there is a slightly higher chance of a small increase in al cèl or the amount of protein in your urine as a result of Sas mans. However, these are checked at annual followup and, if found, can be daissa lo vent.​ The overall risk of developing significant kidney disease in your remaining kidney after donation is le vesitar, occurring in less than one in 200 (0.5%) donors, and it is much less in kidney donors than it is in the general (unscreened) population (because de nuèch donors are, of course, prescreened to ensure they are healthy). Whilst most penjadas have uncomplicated pregnancies after donation, there is a slightly increased risk of gestational hypertension or pre-eclampsia. Can Son rire shorten your life? Compared per las estelas, most kidney donors have equivalent (or better) survival, excellent quality of life, and no increase in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Some studies have indicated a slightly increased incidence of ESKD post donation among ses mescla; in particular black donors, younger donors, donors genetically related to their recipients, donors related to al cant d’aucèls of their kidney failure, and overweight donors. However, the risk is still lower than that of the general (unscreened) allucinats.

d) The original bilingual version of the original Occitan poem in French, also written by Aurélia Lassaque. 

Saint-Jean

La Nuit

La belle danse seule sur les chemins

pour les étoiles et pour la sauvagine.

Ses mains suspendues au ciel,

elle laisse le vent la visiter

Son rire se mêle au chant d’oiseaux de nuit hallucinés. 

e) My literal translation into English from the French and Occitan:

The beauty dances alone on the path

for stars and wilderness.

Her hands hanging in the sky 

she welcomes the wind 

Her laughter mixes with birdsong and hallucinated nights 

2. 

a) Extract from original poem by Yevgeny Yevtushenko 

b) Translation by Adam Israel, who neither speaks Russian nor read Cyrillic

Dolorous Chemistry

Unbottled and aflight, awaiting

The word the had constructed, all but open.

Oh sweet compounds and fair mixtures,

I incline assiduously before your power.

- This extract is taken from Alan Semerdjian’s contribution to the Chain 10 volume on Translucinación (2003) intitled “The Efficacy of Mistranslation” (189-193), in which he recounts his experience teaching creative writing in English through the translation of languages students had varying degrees of access to. Semerdjian quotes Israel’s reflection his translation process from Cyrillic without knowing the alphabet: 

Translating an unknown language caused me to approach the writing of the poem as an unlocking of meaning already trapped among the words. The experience of working from another poet’s words allowed me to disassociate from the act of setting up the poem and focus on the relationships of words together. Fresh and interesting phrases and images sprang forth from the inspiration of Cyrillic characters rather than English thoughts. A wholly new approach for myself, a too American poet. (Israel, quoted in Semerdjian, Chain 10, 192)

c) faithful translation by Alec Vagapov 

OLD AGE TEARS

    Though animals do have some human features

  they differ from humans, the snivelling creatures.

  A dog doesn't whine with its head full of bees, -

  old age is what squeezes out its tears.

3. See Outranspo translation of “The Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den” by on p. 

a) Original poem in Chinese by 1930’s Chinese linguist Yuen Ren Chao, 施氏食獅史

b) Translation by Outranspo 

c) Pinyin transliteration and literal translation, reproduced from the yellowbridge website (translator unknown): 

繁體 Trad ↔ 简体 Simp

Pinyin

English

施氏食狮史

shī shì shí shī shǐ

Story of Shi Eating the Lions

1

石室诗士施氏，

shí shì shī shì shī shì,

A poet named Shi lived in a stone room,

2

嗜狮，誓食十狮.

shì shī, shì shí shí shī.

fond of lions, he swore that he would eat ten lions.

3

氏时时适市视狮。

shì shí shí shì shì shì shī.

He constantly went to the market to look for ten lions.

4

十时，适十狮适市。

shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.

At ten o'clock, ten lions came to the market

5

是时，适施氏适是市。

shì shí, shì shī shì shì shì shì.

and Shi went to the market.

6

氏视是十狮，恃矢势,

shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì,

Looking at the ten lions, he relied on his arrows

7

使是十狮逝世。

shǐ shì shí shī shì shì.

to cause the ten lions to pass away.

8

氏拾是十狮尸，适石室。

shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shí shì.

Shi picked up the corpses of the ten lions and took them to his stone room.

9

石室湿，氏使侍拭石室。

shí shì, shī, shì shǐ shì shì shí shì.

The stone room was damp. Shi ordered a servant to wipe the stone room.

10

石室拭，氏始试食十狮尸。

shí shì shì, shì shǐ shì shí shí shī shī.

As the stone den was being wiped, Shi began to try to eat the meat of the ten lions.

11

食时, 始识十狮尸,

shí shí, shǐ shì shì shí shī shī,

At the time of the meal, he began to realize that the ten lion corpses

12

实十石狮尸.

shí shí shí shī shī.

were in fact were ten stone lions.

13

试释是事.

shì shì shì shì

Try to explain this matter.

[experimentaltranslation]

5.2 Alter ego translation

Materials.

• A text for translation that either treats the subject of writing or the figure of the author, or of a fellow translator (see examples below). 

Steps. 

• This can be a simple transduction, swapping words out for another (such as écriture for translation and autrice for translator). 

• Alternatively, this procedure can modulate for an entire person, as when Doctor Who dies and is reborn as a new Doctor, maintaining his story and his grief, but changing external appearances, tastes and outward personality. 

Examples

In this example students in my first year Master’s course in professional translation were not asked explicitly to modulate person, author or character, but to modulate text type. Interestingly, in a number of cases, the modulation of text type–which includes the modulation of locutional context and address–provoked a modulation of person as in Moure’s modulations between the figure of the author and the figure of the translator. 

Prompt given to the students: Translate changing the text type (ex: biography, interview, social media or dating profile, short story, obituary… please do think about page layout, format and interface)

a) original 

Stacy Doris

38 ans

| Paris (75011) France

EXPÉRIENCES

Traductrice indépendante

Domaines techniques et médicaux Depuis janvier 2011 Freelance Paris France

Traductrice exerçant en libéral, je vous propose un service de traduction professionnel, adapté à vos besoins. Je traduis vos manuels techniques mais également vos documents à usage commercial ou interne, afin de garantir à votre entreprise une documentation homogène.

Traductrice, réviseuse, chef de projets

EXATRAD Avril 2005 à décembre 2010 CDI Paris France

Traduction et révision (essentiellement de l’anglais vers le français) dans le domaine des techniques, des équipements médicaux, de l’informatique, du marketing et de la communication d’entreprise.

Gestion de projets multilingues du devis à la livraison, en passant par l’assignation aux traducteurs compétents et le suivi du projet (lien clients-traducteurs).

Élaboration de glossaires.

Contrôle qualité (guide de style, relecture, révision et suivi des retours clients).

Traductrice et chef de projets junior

Cillero & de Motta Traducción Juillet 2003 à février 2004 Stage Zaragoza Espagne

Gestion de projets, glossaires, guides de style.

Traduction et relecture (espagnol vers français) : rapports médicaux, sites Web touristiques, menus gastronomiques, articles de presse, fiches de sécurité, fiches de maintenance, catalogues publicitaires, développement durable.

FORMATIONS

DESS Techniques de la traduction et traduction spécialisée (anglais/espagnol)

Université Toulouse II

Octobre 2004 à octobre 2005

Formation sur les métiers de la traduction, s’appuyant sur des ateliers pratiques de traduction et de terminologie et sur des cours sur la gestion du fond documentaire, des outils informatiques et de l’entreprise.

Maîtrise LEA (Langues étrangères appliquées) anglais/espagnol

Escuela Universitaria de Estudios Empresariales (Zaragoza, Espagne)

Septembre 2002 à septembre 2003

École de commerce rattachée à l’université de Saragosse.

b) Modulation by Joan Simpson

b) Modulation by Gabriela Rodrigues Anastacio

c) Modulation by Kaoutar Zouarhi 

Nadia is a French-Spanish freelance translator specializing in French literature. Her recent translations include Les fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaires and Le Bateau Ivre by Arthur Rimbaud.

Why did you decide to become a translator? 

Ever since I was a child, I’ve loved languages. I was lucky to grow up in a bilingual household and to speak French and Spanish all the time. I used to read and write poetry in those two languages. After my high school graduation, it was obvious to me that I would study languages, and I decided to study them in Spain. In 2003, I graduated with a BA in applied languages with a major in English and a minor in Spanish from the University of Madrid.  

How did you get your first job? 

During my BA I had to do an internship. It went so well that they offered me a 6-month contract! That was a welcome opportunity for me because it was in Madrid and I wanted to spend more time over there.  I worked as a junior project manager supervising so many translations, mainly from Spanish into French. It was the best first learning experience I could have ever dreamed of. I translated so many kinds of documents, like press articles and advertising catalogues. I also learned good localisation strategies while translating tourist websites. 

Was it easier to work in different areas of translation? Did you like it?

I really enjoyed it, but my passion for French literature and poetry was calling to me. I had always dreamed of translating famous French authors' books into Spanish one day, since it’s my mum’s native language. Then I realised that I couldn’t get a job like that unless I had some kind of translation qualification. Therefore, in 2004, I decided to resume my studies with an MA in Literary and Translation Studies at the University of Toulouse. The syllabus included translation of poetry and novels, terminology modules, courses on creative writing and IT tools.

What did you do after your MA in Translation? 

I was a fresh graduate, and the most evident next step for me was scoring my first literature translation job and working on establishing a good client base. But before I did that, I had to do what all newbie translators do: apply for all the jobs I came across! I must admit I was very lucky because I got a 5-year contract in a translation agency in Paris affiliated to a famous publishing house. I had the great joy of translating over 11 books from French into Spanish. I also did some multilingual project management, created glossaries, did some quality control, and did some follow-up work to develop relationships between clients and translators. 

It sounds pretty interesting! So how did you choose to become a freelance translator? What are the benefits of being a freelance translator compared to an in-house translator? 

Initially, working in-house is probably a good way to get started. It gives you a lot of experience, you see how everything works from the inside and you obviously get a regular income. In 2011, I had my first child, and it was a turning point in my life. So to have more freedom, I founded my own business, I had my own clients, set my own deadlines and rates, and was my own boss. I’ve been providing professional translations for my clients for the past 10 years.

The Translation Process: Beyond the language conversion

October 19, 2021

Future of Europe: launch of the multilingual digital platform. 

October 12, 2021

10 Best Translation Quotes Every Translator Should Know

October 5, 2021

[experimentaltranslation]

5.3 Geographical Modulation

The following are two translations both carried out by Angeliki Papazoglou, a student from my 2019 Master’s translation class, who, beginning with a tourist text on Montpellier, created a fictive city called Darkon City. She then proceeded to locate some of her other experimental translations for the class in this same universe, thus highlighting an important tenet of the class: the reflection on context and world as a primordial guideline for translation strategy. Darkon city is also an example of ‘antotranslation’ (Outranspo’s version of VD’s contraire negativé), translating sunlight to darkness, comedy to tragedy, cats to reptiles. There are also a number of other Outranspian constraints woven into Papazoglou’s translations: see if you can find them! 

A) Original tourist text on Montpellier and Papazoglou’s translation into Darkon City

Prompt: Translate, changing the time or place (real or imaginary)

Montpellier

Il est un pais où l'eau ne sort que de la terre et le soleil reste bien haut dans le ciel. Avec deux fois plus de journées ensoleillées que la moyenne nationale et une multitude de fontaines, qui ont donné à la ville son surnom de "ville aux 100 fontaines", Montpellier est, dès cette introduction, un paradis pour les aficionados de l'héliocentrisme touristique. Ces deux arguments ayant déjà, certainement, provoqué chez certains un départ précipité pour cette ville promise, ne doivent plus rester, devant ces lignes, que les personnes pour qui le soleil n'est pas la seule motivation d'un voyage. Que ces dernières ne fassent pas l'erreur de rayer la cité de leurs destinations de vacances car Montpellier est aussi riche de découvertes qu'elle l'est de lumière. Dotée d'un centre historique millénaire, la ville foisonne d'attraits culturels et patrimoniaux que font vivre une culture méditerranéenne de la vie en extérieur. Il n'est donc pas étonnant de constater que l'essentiel de la vie des montpelliérains se déroule sur les magnifiques places, fruits d'une riche histoire architecturale. L'un des exemples les plus représentatifs de cette abondance visuelle est la place de la Comédie. Lieu de jonction entre les quartiers anciens et les bâtiments modernes du jeune quartier Antigone, cette place est un lieu de rencontre privilégié pour la population. On aime y déambuler entre le théâtre du 19e siècle (dont l'architecture s'apparente à celle de l'Opéra Garnier), les immeubles haussmaniens, la fontaine des 3 Grâces et les nombreux restaurants et bars qui s'y épanouissent. On y découvre aussi l'édifice le plus spectaculaire de la ville, la cathédrale Saint Pierre. […]

https://www.easyvoyage.com/france/montpellier

Darkon City

There is a place where water spouts out of the ground and the sky rests its dark veil upon the city. Having twice as many days full of darkness as any average French city and a multitude of fountains that have given the town the name “the town of one hundred fountains”, Darkon City, according to this introduction, is a paradise for the lovers of darkness-oriented tourism. 

These two arguments probably already have convinced many to visit this promised land. All that is left now is to convince those for whom darkness is not the only relevant criterion for traveling. 

Hopefully those people will avoid making the mistake of crossing this city off of their list of holiday destinations, for Darkon City is brims with places to explore as much as with darkness. 

Being endowed with a city centre of a thousand-year-old historical significance, this town is overflowing with cultural and patrimonial attractions which unveil the outdoor lifestyle of the Haunted Mountains. Therefore, it’s easy to assume that Darkonians experience some of the most important moments of their lives in these magnificent squares which are the fruits of a historically rich architecture. 

One of the most representative examples of this visual abundance is Tragedy Square, which is a famous meeting point as it connects the ancient districts to the modern buildings of the newer district of Aspawn. 

You will love wandering around 38th century theatre, which is architecturally similar to the Morbid Opera, the futuristic gothic buildings, the fountain of Three Graces and the numerous restaurants and bars that appear before your eyes. 

There you will also find the town’s most spectacular building, Saint Stone cathedral. 

B) original text on an animal and Pazoglou’s translation into Darkon City

Prompt: Translate changing the world (real or imaginary—and yes you can change the animal!)

Une nouvelle espèce de chats à été découverte en Corse

Imaginez qu’une des créatures de nos mythes et légendes s’avère réellement exister. C’est ce qui fut le cas du « Ghjattu-volpe » en Corse. Baptisé le « Chat-renard » en français, cette nouvelle espèce de félin (d’apparence plus « chat » que « renard ») est un « mythe devenu réalité » qui intrigue les chercheurs.

En méditerranée, sur l’île française de Corse, une légende locale appartenant aux bergers depuis bien des années est connue sous le nom de « Ghjattu-volpe » : un prédateur nocturne pourchassant les mamelles des moutons et des chèvres !

Mais ce n’est que pendant une nuit en 2008, lorsqu’accidentellement l’un d’entre eux fut pris au piège dans un poulailler d’Olcani que cela a finalement attiré l’attention des spécialistes.

En effet, l’ONCFS (Office national de la chasse et de la faune sauvage) nous avoue que cette espèce auparavant connue n’avait cependant pas encore été identifiée « scientifiquement » et recensée. Afin de justifier cela, Pierre Benedetti, un technicien en environnement à cet Office a déclaré à l’AFP qu’il s’agissait d’un animal extrêmement discret et aux habitudes nocturnes.

Avec sa longue queue aux anneaux noirs, son pelage dense gris fauve, ses rayures sur les pattes antérieures, son ventre de couleur rouge, ses oreilles très écartées, ses moustaches courtes et ses longues canines, il n’est pas étonnant que ce chat sauvage fût un jour apparenté à son cousin le renard. Mais il n’en est rien, car il serait tout bonnement impossible pour un canidé et un félin de s’hybrider…

https://ohchouette.com/une-nouvelle-espece-de-chats-a-ete-decouverte-en-corse/

A new race of reptiles was found in Darkon City!

What if one of the creatures of your bedtime stories actually existed? That was the case with the “Blazesting” of Darkon City. This new breed of reptiles, that looks more like a dragon than a scorpion, is called “Dragon-scorpion” in English. It’s a myth come true and has intrigued many researchers. 

A local legend among Darkonian lumberjacks tells the story of a creature known as the “Blazesting” that has existed for many years in Darkon City. According to this legend, this nocturnal predator loves to hunt vermin and small animals for food late at night! 

It wasn’t until 5034 that Blazesting intrigued scientists, when it was accidentally trapped in a construction site near Blackwood forest during the night that same year.

Nevertheless, NODFS (National Organisation for Draconian Forest Species) informs us that scientists have not yet identified nor classified this already existing creature. In order to explain this, Rock Gooddeamon, an environmental technician who works in this organisation talked to DCNA (Darkon City News Agency) about a very discreet animal with noctural habits.

With its long, stinging, poisonous tail, its skin covered with scales, its brownish red colour that changes regularly depending on weather conditions, its long and heavy wings, its glow-in-the-dark eyes with slit pupils and its big, sharp teeth, we could easily assume that this venomous dragon is related to its cousin the scorpion. However, this is not the case, because it would be impossible for a cross-breeding between a reptile and an arachnid to occur…

[experimentaltranslation]

5.4 Archimboldo translation (à la Eliana Vicari)

Materials.

• A text for translation that centers around a particular lexical or figural field (see below). 

Steps

• Modulate the lexical or figural field found in the text into different one. 

Examples

• Original text : “Madame Groichant”, an ‘Arcimboldo verbal’ by Jacques Roubaud

Mme Groichant était crémeuse, abondante, à haute et compliquée chevelure chocolatée, s’apparentant par bien des aspects aux innombrables éclairs, religieuses et charlottes que défournait quotidiennement et excellemment son mari ; elle était dodue comme un croissant aux amandes et lente comme la fonte d’un vacherin. Sa lenteur naturelle était encore aggravée par son incapacité arithmétique notoire, ainsi que par les exigences tumultueuses de la série des neufs petits Groichant, sortis annuellement et successivement du four conjugal avec la réussite et l’enthousiasme des célèbres puits d’amour de leur père. (La Belle Hortense, 76-77).

• Modulations : “Les sœurs de Mme Groichant”, three samples by Eliana Vicari. Translated and/or inspired by yours truly.  

Ms. Francpoise

Ms. Francpoise was fresh, juicy, with very and complicated orangey hair, resembling in a number of ways the innumerable strawberries, watermelons, blackcurrants and cherries that her husband selected excellently and daily; velvety and tender like a peach, she was however hard and long to cook like beans. She was naturally slow, and this was aggravated by her infamous arithmetic inabilities, as well as by the tumultuous exigencies of the collection of nine little Francpoises, who popped out yearly and successively from the conjugal cabbage patch with the success and enthusiasm of their father’s famous “personalized passionfruit.

Ms. Tournepeau

Fleshy, pulpy, vaguely aged, with a frankly horsey grin and a smidgen of bovine in her eye, Ms. Tournepeau resembled in a number of ways the innumerable guinea fowl rolls, turkeys stuffed with chestnut, and geese with sauerkraut that her husband stocked excellently and daily; she was plump as a capon stuffed with foie gras and slow as a stew. She was naturally slow, and this was aggravated by her infamous arithmetic inabilities, as well as by the tumultuous exigencies of the collection of nine little Tournepeaus who were delivered yearly and successively from the meat locker with the success and enthusiasm of their father’s famous slow-cooked pork. 

Ms. Zoles

Ms. Zoles was dry, airing her arid knockers like flounders in a barrel. She wore a tiny smile like a puffer-fish from atop which she gazed like a whiting out of water. Sleeping with the salmon and eating at all hours, she was fishing for compliments much the way her husband voraciously gutted his mussels. She was slippery as a red herring, thin and svelte as a young eel. Moreover, she had accrued a turbot-like speed by means of her notorious mathematical abilities, which she needed much more than an anchovy needs a bicycle because she had to respond to the boisterous demands of the many mini Zoles in the sea, who appeared annually and successively from the conjugal trawler, which produced many oysters to fry. 

Variation: 

• Arcimboldo gendertranslation: translate changing the gender. Originals by Eliana Vicari. 

Mr. Ébilachion

Mr. Ébilachion was perfectly made-over, immaculate, beautified, his face moisturized, his moustache unctuous and moist, luxuriant as a brush. His head glistened, admirably deplumed down to a hair’s breadth. He resembled in a number of ways the innumerable exfoliations and depilations, manicures, pedicures and filings that his wife undertook excellently and daily. He was polished, tonified, slimmed, firmed, sculpted like a god, and yet… strange but true… slow… slow like the setting of a no-chip nail polish. He was naturally slow and this was aggravated by his infamous arithmetic inabilities, as well as by the tumultuous exigencies of the collection of nine little Ébilachions, born yearly and successively from the eternal conjugal wax heater with the success and enthusiasm of their mother’s famous massages, accompanied by the her sweet affectionate voice whispering: “just lay there and look pretty.” 

Mr. Couvelnail 

Mr. Couvelnail had tattooed arms, his left ear pierced with an ornamented hoop, his tight, clean-shaven hairstyle was oddly striped, resembling in a number of ways the innumerable nets, snoods and gangions that his missus baited and hooked excellently and daily. He was plump as a whale in algae and slow as an old man against marlins and sharks. He was naturally slow and this was aggravated by his infamous arithmetic inabilities (his old lady so well-schooled ‘twas hard to count the fish!), as well as by the tumultuous exigencies of the collection of nine little Couvenails, spawned yearly and successively from the creel with the success and enthusiasm of the famous guilled pleasures of their motherfish who, it is said, had a flounder with a swordfish at every port.