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recent translation cleansing concerning Mark Twain
Thread poster: veratek
veratek
veratek
Brazil
Local time: 04:00
French to English
+ ...
Jan 9, 2011

I remember reading very quickly that the underlying objective for this recent Twain translation sterilization in the U.S. was to reintroduce these books in grade school. They were allegedly being taken out of the reading list canon because of original racists words. However, this doesn't seem right as well. Huck Finn is no grade school book. I could potentially endorse such a vocabulary cleansing if these books were for young children, but never for high school material.

Many year... See more
I remember reading very quickly that the underlying objective for this recent Twain translation sterilization in the U.S. was to reintroduce these books in grade school. They were allegedly being taken out of the reading list canon because of original racists words. However, this doesn't seem right as well. Huck Finn is no grade school book. I could potentially endorse such a vocabulary cleansing if these books were for young children, but never for high school material.

Many years ago I remember hearing about a similar issue with a translation for an opera libretto. I can no longer remember what the words were.

http://www.caglecartoons.com/viewimage.asp?ID={A48A6282-76DE-44DD-8FA9-7260AAA5674B}


http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/110107beelertoon_c20110107021314.jpg

Don't miss the "Now with more peace!" (it deserves a prize, IMO)

Any comments or other similarly interesting examples? ▲ Collapse
 
Barbara Wiebking
Barbara Wiebking  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 09:00
English to German
+ ...
Politically correct Bible Jan 9, 2011

Great - love the cartoons...

I found a similar example for Germany: A new translation of the Bible has been published which uses both "He" and "She" as well as "You" for "Lord". Also, "our Father in heaven" was reformulated as "Father and Mother in heaven", female forms were introduced throughout the text and antisemiti... See more
Great - love the cartoons...

I found a similar example for Germany: A new translation of the Bible has been published which uses both "He" and "She" as well as "You" for "Lord". Also, "our Father in heaven" was reformulated as "Father and Mother in heaven", female forms were introduced throughout the text and antisemitic comments were removed.

http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,442067,00.html

Actually, I think that's kind of cool! ▲ Collapse
 
Laurent KRAULAND (X)
Laurent KRAULAND (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 09:00
French to German
+ ...
So much... Jan 10, 2011

for the advocacy of "truth". Or should it be "Truth"?

From my point of view, there is nothing more damaging than separating the words of authors from their historical context in order to make them become acceptable to contemporary readers.

Are we living in a world in which Everything's coming up roses? I don't think so.

As I wrote it in the parallel French thread, the next step would be to occult e.g. the pathologies of known authors (Samuel... See more
for the advocacy of "truth". Or should it be "Truth"?

From my point of view, there is nothing more damaging than separating the words of authors from their historical context in order to make them become acceptable to contemporary readers.

Are we living in a world in which Everything's coming up roses? I don't think so.

As I wrote it in the parallel French thread, the next step would be to occult e.g. the pathologies of known authors (Samuel Langhorne Clemens, alias dictus Mark Twain, is strongly suspected of having been affected either by AS - Asperger's syndrome - or by HFA - high-functioning autism.)

Should his works all of a sudden become less valuable or even get rejected because of his pathology just because the "competent authorities" decide that this is the way to go?

[Modifié le 2011-01-10 05:55 GMT] ▲ Collapse
 
Susan Welsh
Susan Welsh  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 03:00
Russian to English
+ ...
pathologies Jan 10, 2011

Ah, but if Clemens were indeed suffering from Asperger's Syndrome, it would be politically incorrect to discriminate against him by censoring his work, would it not?
 
Laurent KRAULAND (X)
Laurent KRAULAND (X)  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 09:00
French to German
+ ...
It depends... Jan 10, 2011

Susan Welsh wrote:

Ah, but if Clemens were indeed suffering from Asperger's Syndrome, it would be politically incorrect to discriminate against him by censoring his work, would it not?


on what is deemed PC. There are those who see AS as a handicap, and those who think it is a difference.
 


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recent translation cleansing concerning Mark Twain







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