Jen Hofer's Brilliance in the Journal of Aesthetics and Protest

Translation is sunspots.

People are versions: contextual, interrupted, mutable, articulated, different in different moments and spaces.

We believe a little fakery is the sincerest form of sincerity.

The act of rewriting a poem or paragraph from one language to another is known as translation; the act of saying aloud in one language what someone is saying in another is known as interpretation: the terms, it seems to me, are exactly backwards.

All quotes from a new article by la mera mera Jen Hofer que se llama "Suspension of Belief: Some Thoughts on Translation as Subversive Speech". Really, if you have a few minutes (or a few more) to digest her writing. So worth it. Also, she has another piece in the same journal, The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, called Notes on Translation and the Art of War (which is an email sum-up and jump-off of thoughts after attending a January Emily Apter talk in L.A.).

And it would serve you right to read the first article too because you can see her amazing translations of a poem by (Y te sirviría mucho leer el primer artículo también porque puedes ver las traducciones de este poema de) Myriam Moscona:

ver
verde
ver de verlo
velo verde
velar al verde
ve lo verde
de verdad
vélo


Myriam Moscona

5 comentarios:

Bidisha dijo...

JP! Gracias for this link, and for the poem. I can't wait to see you this weekend! Bidisha

John Pluecker dijo...

it's gonna be rad to see everyone. like a mini college reunion. rock rock rock.

Bidisha dijo...

Our translation:

See
Sea green
See from seen
Green vale
Veil the green
See the green
Real
Unveil

B&G



b

Anónimo dijo...

Soy yo, Mujer de Acero. Te extraño; ahora estoy leyendo tu blog. Me encanta lo que escribió Jen! Bueno, llámame cuando regreses a Houston. Abrazos.

John Pluecker dijo...

bidisha - i love yr translation. a lot.

mujer de acero - te quiero también. y nos vemos pronto espero.