If you somehow think translation between languages is a neutral act, go search for any two differently translated versions of the same poem.
And then recognize that that goes for the "same" language, across time, too.
And then recognize that that goes for the "same" language, across time, too.
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The sonnets have only one original published form, so it's not even a matter of reconciling differences in originals like some of his plays.
He talks about this, and the choices translators make, in the forward. And actually gives several versions of a couple of the poems, showing just how different the meanings could
https://youtu.be/JgQ_buy8xJ0?si=iwlSwfD6VbKufSIO
That thing went through 20 rounds of — not even corrections, REWRITES — before someone told them to get their shit together.
Sometimes the differences seem hardly worth noting, but in some instances they lend a completely different interpretation of a passage.
-Bruce Sterling
Really eye-opening how powerful translation is in intentionally skewing narratives in a ‘benign’ way
-Sumerian proverb
Doing English -> Welsh -> Japanese -> English with the last sentence above:
"And over time you realize that it also applies to the 'same' language."
Not the same meaning at all.
Translation is clearly a delicate business in politics, often not treated with sufficient care