Translators Help Popularize Foreign Works
Translator Natasha Wimmer's acclaimed interpretations of Roberto Bolano's novels owe a great deal to her willingness to relocate to Mexico to get a better sense of the works' urgency and cultural relevancy. Her efforts have paid off, as evidenced by the commercial and artistic success that Bolano's final novel, 2666, has enjoyed in the United States. "If a translator doesn't understand what's going on in the original language, it tends to show up in the target language," says Farrar, Straus, and Giroux Editor Lorin Stein, who handled 2666 and an earlier Bolano novel also translated by Wimmer. "If you're not totally in control, you start erring on the side of safe." American publishers have worked hard in recent years to widen their spotlight on foreign works. GalleyCat Editor Jason Boog says that overall "it's the smaller presses that champion the translated works," although the English version of 2666 was released by a major publisher.
From "A Translator's Task: To Disappear"
Christian Science Monitor (MA) (01/16/09) P. 13; Shaer, Matthew
Source: ATA Newsbriefs - January 2009
