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Translation, Representation, and my Confusion
In this week’s NYRB, Tim Parks reviewed Best European Fiction 2010, an anthology published by Dalkey, edited and with an introduction by Aleksandar Hemon and a forward by Zadie Smith. Parks discusses the demographic of contributors, mentioning that Europe isn’t fully represented in this anthology of “best European” writing. Heavy-hitting writer countries like Germany, Sweden, Greece, and the Czech Republic are absent. So I wonder: Would an anthology of “Best American” writing need contributors from every state? I’d examine my copy of Best American, but I don’t own it. Someone else, please, do.
Parks goes on to say:
“Represented” is hardly the right word. Many of the stories do not take place in the writers’ native countries: the pieces from Castilian Spain and Serbia take place in France, the French story in Japan, the stories from Poland and Macedonia in Austria, the story from Croatia in Hungary, the story from England in France; most curiously, the story translated from Gaelic tells of an old blind clairvoyant in rural Bolivia. / I have no problem with this. All the contributions are interesting and some impressive. That is enough for me. But it does make one wonder whether we are learning much about other cultures from this venture, whether it is true, as Hemon claims, that “ceaseless” and “immediate” translation of literature from abroad is a “profound, non-negotiable need.”
So if I’m understanding Parks correctly—and I may be wrong—his complaint is that the fictions Hemon chose are not set in the country in which the writer is residing. Am I right? So again, let’s look at the Best American series. Are those stories set in the states or cities or whatever where the writer lives? By the way, I get that it’s more than just an issue of residence, these writers are “representing” their country, which I find very problematic. That being said, I still don’t know why their fiction has to be set in their country. Not every story I write is set in the US, which isn’t even fair now because I live in Canada, but wouldn’t it be best if my fictions were set in Vietnam, if “representation” is the issue? I’m confused. Is anyone else? It’s wonky logic from any angle.
But I’m getting off track. Focus, Lily, because here comes my real issue with this review: Parks seems to say that the purpose in reading literature from places not here is that we should be “learning… about other cultures.” What!? Seriously? I completely agree with Hemon that the need for translation from literature abroad is “profound” and “non-negotiable,” but I am at a loss to how Parks translates this to mean that readers need to “learn something” about other cultures by reading these texts. In essence, Parks seems to be exoticizing non-American lit. I mean: can you imagine if people from other countries looked to American fiction as a way to learn about our “culture”? Furthermore, would you want to pick that representative piece of fiction to stand in for our entire country? It’s ridiculous, and yet, this seems to be the exact criticism Parks lodges at Best European Fiction.
Like I said, I haven’t read this anthology. I have, however, read this whole review, which is substantial. Parks makes some interesting points. It’s worth the read. I’ll send with what he says about translation. I’ll withhold my commentary for now, but you, please, go right on ahead and tell me what you think:
What can I say then, if I wish to comment on the thirty-one translations in Best European Fiction 2010, twenty-two of them from languages I do not know? That on the whole the reader gets a strong impression of a cohesion of style and content that can only be the result of extremely attentive reading, followed by respectful and imaginative rewriting. This cohesion is the hallmark of good translation and the only thing a reviewer with no knowledge of the original can sensibly comment on and elucidate. In each case it would be futile to seek to establish how much we should be praising the author and how much the translator: the author wrote a fine story, which inspired the translator to make a fine translation. Of my own translations, I should say that I was always happy when the author got the praise and I escaped mention; it’s self-evident that only a good translation makes it possible for the reviewer to praise the author.
Every state? How ’bout every country?
Hmmm… If in the “Best European Fiction 2010” Germany (e.g.) is absent, it does mean, that in the opinion of editors German (e.g.) literature of the year 2010 wasn’t condign enough to be included in the anthology.
Actually, I, as a weak person affected by a fatal curiousity, would be happy to read literature from every European country, in the anthology called “Best European Fiction”. Or from every state in the anthology called “Best American”.
I know, in this case the book could surely get the quantitative dimensions of “Unsaid” or “Infinite Jest”. Sure, 50 countries and a dozen half recognized places.
But otherwise, if not complete, it should have title like “Extracts from European Literature” (I know, this title is also lame).
And, again, as a weak person affected by a fatal curiousity I’m interested in every country, not just in the selection.
Damnit, man, the Americas are continents! Lunacy! Racism!
(Seriously, though. Ask a Chilean writer how their work differs from American fiction…then be prepared to dodge some *spicy* *chile*. Ole!)
I don’t think you can compare a state in the US, to a country in Europe. For one thing, most of the countries have their own languages and are heavily populated. Clearly nothing like the US.
In Europe by the bye, the US is usally referred to as “America”. US English is even called “American”. I don’t agree, but as far as usage goes it is unfortunately that way.
And what about stories set in places that could be any country or no country at all? Plenty of writers keep their settings deliberately vague. Does this mean they should be ineligible for inclusion in one of these anthologies because they don’t represent their own country? That doesn’t make any sense, but then the whole idea of “representation” confuses me. Do people primarily read translated writing because they want to learn about another culture? Do you learn nothing about the culture a piece of writing comes out of if it isn’t set in that culture’s country? A lot of my own stories are set outside of the States, but I guess that doesn’t make them any less American. Do stories have a nationality? Jesus, this is making my head hurt. I’m going to stop now. The Spanish soccor team is celebrating just down the street from my building and I think I’ll go join them.
Yeah, it’s the whole “learning about other cultures” bit that pisses me off. It’s very privileged, very American. Maybe that’s his point and I’m getting all riled up for nothing. Maybe I’m too sensitive. Obviously, the whole “representation” bit upsets me too.
Well, if it means anything, I had a chance to hear the editor, Hemon, and several of the authors speak at a PEN festival earlier this year. And Lily, I think Parks’ criticism is ridiculous, too.
He’s not basing the critical review on what Hemon/Dalkey set out to do.
On the whole, U.S. Americans do as well at reading translated literature as we do at holding passports. Not good. According to Hemon, more translations equal more readers. Simple formula. I asked him how they landed on the title, and he said without hesitation they wanted “Best European Fiction” to compete commercially with anthologies like “Best American Short Fiction” and the like.
I couldn’t find a list of the contributors to Best American Short Stories 2010. The book hasn’t been published yet? I looked up all of the contributors to Best American Short Stories 2009, instead.
Missed a line break, there.
“All the contributions are interesting and some impressive. That is enough for me.”
It is enough for me, too. This anthology was one of the better books I’ve read in the last year. A few pieces are heartbreakingly good, and made better by the fact that the author was someone previously unknown to me.
As Parks seems to struggle with the word “represent,” I too have a hard time accepting any anthology as a true “representation” of a culture. The BEF is a collection of perspectives, not a representation of the cultures themselves.
What this anthology does do, though, is make the case for more translations–outside Toussaint and Vorpsi, I hadn’t heard of these writers, and would certainly be eager to purchase something more of their work.
Thanks, Joseph! I’ve read a few of the stories, and yes, they are amazing. I too hadn’t heard of many of the authors and I’m grateful to be exposed to them, but my point in criticizing Parks’s criticism is that being exposed to new writers and these various translated works does not mean these stories should teach me about their culture. That is not the point of an anthology like BEF, nor is it the purpose of reading translated work as a whole.
I completely agree with you that BEF makes a case for more translations. This is a very important call, and I hope to see more and more translated works!
No, I agree with you Lily. I didn’t mean to come off contradictory to what you were saying, but to what Parks was saying, at least in the excerpts you have here. A lot of people might disagree, but I think of writing/art more as an element of culture than as a decoder ring through which to interpret a cultural whole.
I need to read the whole Parks article.
Every state? How ’bout every country?
Dude, check your sources. “American”? How many europeans did you cover on that survey?
Hmmm… If in the “Best European Fiction 2010” Germany (e.g.) is absent, it does mean, that in the opinion of editors German (e.g.) literature of the year 2010 wasn’t condign enough to be included in the anthology.
Actually, I, as a weak person affected by a fatal curiousity, would be happy to read literature from every European country, in the anthology called “Best European Fiction”. Or from every state in the anthology called “Best American”.
I know, in this case the book could surely get the quantitative dimensions of “Unsaid” or “Infinite Jest”. Sure, 50 countries and a dozen half recognized places.
But otherwise, if not complete, it should have title like “Extracts from European Literature” (I know, this title is also lame).
And, again, as a weak person affected by a fatal curiousity I’m interested in every country, not just in the selection.
Damnit, man, the Americas are continents! Lunacy! Racism!
(Seriously, though. Ask a Chilean writer how their work differs from American fiction…then be prepared to dodge some *spicy* *chile*. Ole!)
I thought the same thoughts when reading that review.
And isn’t Tim Parks British?
I don’t think you can compare a state in the US, to a country in Europe. For one thing, most of the countries have their own languages and are heavily populated. Clearly nothing like the US.
In Europe by the bye, the US is usally referred to as “America”. US English is even called “American”. I don’t agree, but as far as usage goes it is unfortunately that way.
And what about stories set in places that could be any country or no country at all? Plenty of writers keep their settings deliberately vague. Does this mean they should be ineligible for inclusion in one of these anthologies because they don’t represent their own country? That doesn’t make any sense, but then the whole idea of “representation” confuses me. Do people primarily read translated writing because they want to learn about another culture? Do you learn nothing about the culture a piece of writing comes out of if it isn’t set in that culture’s country? A lot of my own stories are set outside of the States, but I guess that doesn’t make them any less American. Do stories have a nationality? Jesus, this is making my head hurt. I’m going to stop now. The Spanish soccor team is celebrating just down the street from my building and I think I’ll go join them.
Yeah, it’s the whole “learning about other cultures” bit that pisses me off. It’s very privileged, very American. Maybe that’s his point and I’m getting all riled up for nothing. Maybe I’m too sensitive. Obviously, the whole “representation” bit upsets me too.
Well, if it means anything, I had a chance to hear the editor, Hemon, and several of the authors speak at a PEN festival earlier this year. And Lily, I think Parks’ criticism is ridiculous, too.
He’s not basing the critical review on what Hemon/Dalkey set out to do.
On the whole, U.S. Americans do as well at reading translated literature as we do at holding passports. Not good. According to Hemon, more translations equal more readers. Simple formula. I asked him how they landed on the title, and he said without hesitation they wanted “Best European Fiction” to compete commercially with anthologies like “Best American Short Fiction” and the like.
I couldn’t find a list of the contributors to Best American Short Stories 2010. The book hasn’t been published yet? I looked up all of the contributors to Best American Short Stories 2009, instead.
Missed a line break, there.
“All the contributions are interesting and some impressive. That is enough for me.”
It is enough for me, too. This anthology was one of the better books I’ve read in the last year. A few pieces are heartbreakingly good, and made better by the fact that the author was someone previously unknown to me.
As Parks seems to struggle with the word “represent,” I too have a hard time accepting any anthology as a true “representation” of a culture. The BEF is a collection of perspectives, not a representation of the cultures themselves.
What this anthology does do, though, is make the case for more translations–outside Toussaint and Vorpsi, I hadn’t heard of these writers, and would certainly be eager to purchase something more of their work.
Thanks, Joseph! I’ve read a few of the stories, and yes, they are amazing. I too hadn’t heard of many of the authors and I’m grateful to be exposed to them, but my point in criticizing Parks’s criticism is that being exposed to new writers and these various translated works does not mean these stories should teach me about their culture. That is not the point of an anthology like BEF, nor is it the purpose of reading translated work as a whole.
I completely agree with you that BEF makes a case for more translations. This is a very important call, and I hope to see more and more translated works!
Fucking Dalkey. Easy fix: “Best Generally, Not Necessarily Comprehensively, Representative European Fiction, Not Limited In Setting To Specific European Locale, 2010”
review of contemporary fiction has already published an entire issue dedicated to New German Fiction. I don’t think all the stories in the anthology are actually from 2010, unless i’m confusing it with another recent anthology.
No, I agree with you Lily. I didn’t mean to come off contradictory to what you were saying, but to what Parks was saying, at least in the excerpts you have here. A lot of people might disagree, but I think of writing/art more as an element of culture than as a decoder ring through which to interpret a cultural whole.
I need to read the whole Parks article.
What’s fascinating about your question, Lily, is not being addressed. I think many of us will agree that Parks’ expectations that from an anthology like this with a range of authors one might pick up the ‘flavours’ of each country, like a food court, is a literary exoticism, and old hat. But, at the same time, I think many of us would confess an interest in a writer from, say, Finland, and what Finland does to the writer, does it beg writing about for the writer, does it repulse, does it remain indifferent to the writer. It sounds to me that the beauty of this anthology is precisely its meta-transnational nature (French written story about Japan; Polish written story about Austria). And this leads me to a question: should we be seeking out, from the position of our curiosity in a foreign author, ‘displaced’ narratives of a transnational nature? I say: yes. For me, in overwhelming Western cultures like America, and mine, Australia, whose literary cultures in a way overemphasise their thematic property (America: perhaps post-capitalist urban spaces [De Lillo, McCarthy] Australia: the regional picturesque, the reverse colonial story [where reconciliation with indigenous people succeeds]) this kind of meta-transnational narrative has transgressive potential. I’ve never read him, but Nam Le (from Melbourne) does this with The Boat, writing about nations across the globe, but for me more significantly Tom Cho, who produces a peculiar literary style via working with cartoonish versions of Chinese-Australian stereotypes (with him, the question of whether the migrant experience here is negative or positive doesn’t even occur, far more significant questions about the degree of fluidity of this identity, about family, for example, I think are engaged.) I think Tom Cho makes of a migrant identity a familiarity so intense (through multiple pop culture proximities) that it becomes instantly new. In conclusion, I think Parks has failed because the desire was to find figments of identity or habitat within these writers’ works. Perhaps the better approach would have been to take the examples as happenings within these countries, and possible examples of literary scenes, at most. What an opportunity! To read with so many kilometres, so many borders between.
Dude, check your sources. “American”? How many europeans did you cover on that survey?
I thought the same thoughts when reading that review.
And isn’t Tim Parks British?
Brad Pitt is from Springfield, MO. Did anybody know that? I’ve eaten at the Applebee’s there a few times.
I did, but only because I’m from southern Missouri. I’m pretty sure dick van dyke was born in my hometown. so was porter wagonner, though later he claimed he was from springfield and people here got pretty pissed.
Fucking Dalkey. Easy fix: “Best Generally, Not Necessarily Comprehensively, Representative European Fiction, Not Limited In Setting To Specific European Locale, 2010”
Nam Le’s book of stories was my favorite book of last year — and he wrote convincingly about a 14 year old hitman in Colombia, a young American woman visiting Teheran, etc. This sort of writerly ambition is very inspiring to me.
On the other hand we have a certain demographic of readers and teachers who are after a stereotypical uplifting experience from all art. That indeed is what they believe art is “for.”
review of contemporary fiction has already published an entire issue dedicated to New German Fiction. I don’t think all the stories in the anthology are actually from 2010, unless i’m confusing it with another recent anthology.
now you’re talking. i also sort of chuckle at the limited scope of most of these ‘best of’ series; it’s as if they’re meant to be bundled up neatly for future anthropologists to study our zeitgeist. Best American Literature Written Down the Street From Me. Best Literature Written on a Monday. Best Literature Written by Owners of Cats. i do see the value in the Community Building value of projects like these, but i would really like to see some serious stabs at a World Lit collection. “The world is all that is the case.”
@BC all the europeans i know who refer to “American” as a language only do so in a mocking way
What’s fascinating about your question, Lily, is not being addressed. I think many of us will agree that Parks’ expectations that from an anthology like this with a range of authors one might pick up the ‘flavours’ of each country, like a food court, is a literary exoticism, and old hat. But, at the same time, I think many of us would confess an interest in a writer from, say, Finland, and what Finland does to the writer, does it beg writing about for the writer, does it repulse, does it remain indifferent to the writer. It sounds to me that the beauty of this anthology is precisely its meta-transnational nature (French written story about Japan; Polish written story about Austria). And this leads me to a question: should we be seeking out, from the position of our curiosity in a foreign author, ‘displaced’ narratives of a transnational nature? I say: yes. For me, in overwhelming Western cultures like America, and mine, Australia, whose literary cultures in a way overemphasise their thematic property (America: perhaps post-capitalist urban spaces [De Lillo, McCarthy] Australia: the regional picturesque, the reverse colonial story [where reconciliation with indigenous people succeeds]) this kind of meta-transnational narrative has transgressive potential. I’ve never read him, but Nam Le (from Melbourne) does this with The Boat, writing about nations across the globe, but for me more significantly Tom Cho, who produces a peculiar literary style via working with cartoonish versions of Chinese-Australian stereotypes (with him, the question of whether the migrant experience here is negative or positive doesn’t even occur, far more significant questions about the degree of fluidity of this identity, about family, for example, I think are engaged.) I think Tom Cho makes of a migrant identity a familiarity so intense (through multiple pop culture proximities) that it becomes instantly new. In conclusion, I think Parks has failed because the desire was to find figments of identity or habitat within these writers’ works. Perhaps the better approach would have been to take the examples as happenings within these countries, and possible examples of literary scenes, at most. What an opportunity! To read with so many kilometres, so many borders between.
wow, nice.
Ah. You’re from West Plains? (I googled some names.) The only times I’ve been in southern Missouri is when I’ve gone to Branson. Las Vegas of the Ozarks and shit.
Living in Europe for a long time and having hundreds of students, plenty of friends, and tons of people I know – lots. Not to mention that most of what I read and most of the films I watch are not in English…
Books in French and Italian (and probably other languages) translated from US authors, very often, say “Translated from the American”.
In Europe no. As mentioned above, publishers say “translated from the American.” Trust me, I am an authority :)
From one fool of God to another.
my heart wants me to believe you, but my brain tells me you’re asking me to believe 2+2=5. “Neither in French nor in English nor in Mexican.” <– is a pretty well known Bushism, though you could argue he actually had a point given that the local flavors of spanish different so much from one country to the next in north, central and south america. "translated from the American" <– still sounds (to me) like it's meant to be taken lightly; what text was this caveat attached to? an eastern europe translation of h.l. mencken's "The American Language" (1919)?
ps – the above "mocking" hyperlink i tried to add but (i believe) got eaten by the spam filter: http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/11/2010/06/thumb160x_englandsun.jpg
Brad Pitt is from Springfield, MO. Did anybody know that? I’ve eaten at the Applebee’s there a few times.
I did, but only because I’m from southern Missouri. I’m pretty sure dick van dyke was born in my hometown. so was porter wagonner, though later he claimed he was from springfield and people here got pretty pissed.
Nam Le’s book of stories was my favorite book of last year — and he wrote convincingly about a 14 year old hitman in Colombia, a young American woman visiting Teheran, etc. This sort of writerly ambition is very inspiring to me.
On the other hand we have a certain demographic of readers and teachers who are after a stereotypical uplifting experience from all art. That indeed is what they believe art is “for.”
Ah. You’re from West Plains? (I googled some names.) The only times I’ve been in southern Missouri is when I’ve gone to Branson. Las Vegas of the Ozarks and shit.
Living in Europe for a long time and having hundreds of students, plenty of friends, and tons of people I know – lots. Not to mention that most of what I read and most of the films I watch are not in English…
Books in French and Italian (and probably other languages) translated from US authors, very often, say “Translated from the American”.
In Europe no. As mentioned above, publishers say “translated from the American.” Trust me, I am an authority :)
From one fool of God to another.
The only thing we europeans refer to as “american” is a person who only speaks one language.
Dear sirrah, I’m born and bred in Sweden, and have lived and worked in the UK, Spain, Italy and Finland (for over ten years altogether) and have travelled extensively in Europe and other continents. I guarantee you that we have a much firmer grasp of the differences between UK vs. US English and the words relating thereto than you seem to give us credit for.
I obviously can’t speak for your students, but please do not tar us all with the same brush. Also, please remember that Europe is a continent extremely different to North America. We are a collection of countries widely separated by culture, language, living standard and law. The peoples and countries of Europe were established for thousands of years before mr Columbus ever set his little heart on discovery. We don’t like being called “europeans”, we’re Swedish, German, Dutch, French, Bosnian, Romanian, Greek and so forth.
Thank you.
Ha, yes.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8CQJUE02
Half of Europeans are American? Ayooooooooooo… (Associated Press, yall.)
Fair enough Elle – My experience is mainly with Swiss/Italian/French/Russian/Slovenian/Ukrainian etc.
As you say, Swedish people generally do have a much firmer grasp on English and it is indeed true I have never heard anyone from Sweden/Iceland/Denmark etc. use the phrase. But it is widely used – even in publishing.
Obviously Europe is different from N. America. That is what I said in my original post you commented on.
Cheers.
Hey don’t paint all Europeans with the same brush!
You’ve misread the review, Lily. It’s not Parks who claims that the stories in Best European do or should represent the culture of Europe as a whole, and that fiction’s job is to teach us about the author’s culture, it’s (well, according to Parks) Hemon, in the introduction to the anthology, as well as Edith Grossman, author of another book under review. Parks lays this out in the first paragraph:
“Americans do not read enough foreign fiction. The accusation is made by Aleksander Hemon in his anthology Best European Fiction 2010, and again by Edith Grossman, celebrated translator of Don Quixote, as well as many other Spanish works, in her Yale lectures, Why Translation Matters. Only 3 to 5 percent of books published in the US are translations, we are told. Hemon sees this as another manifestation of “culturally catastrophic American isolationism”; Grossman feels that the resulting incomprehension of foreign cultures has dangerous implications for world peace. Thus both these publications that invite us to experience other cultures do so within the frame of a polemic at home. ”
Parks’s point is that it doesn’t matter how much of the author’s culture comes through in their stories, as long as they’re good. Which I think you’re agreeing with here.
Here is an example of what I am talking about:
http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/-274417086/used/Jusqu%27Au%20Bout%20Du%20Monde%3A%20Roman%20%28Traduit%20De%20L%27Americain%20Par%20Jacques%20Martinache%20%29
This book is “Traduit De L’Americain”
I am not saying it is correct. The reason I am aware of it, is I have argued with my students endlessly about it not being correct….
The only thing we europeans refer to as “american” is a person who only speaks one language.
Dear sirrah, I’m born and bred in Sweden, and have lived and worked in the UK, Spain, Italy and Finland (for over ten years altogether) and have travelled extensively in Europe and other continents. I guarantee you that we have a much firmer grasp of the differences between UK vs. US English and the words relating thereto than you seem to give us credit for.
I obviously can’t speak for your students, but please do not tar us all with the same brush. Also, please remember that Europe is a continent extremely different to North America. We are a collection of countries widely separated by culture, language, living standard and law. The peoples and countries of Europe were established for thousands of years before mr Columbus ever set his little heart on discovery. We don’t like being called “europeans”, we’re Swedish, German, Dutch, French, Bosnian, Romanian, Greek and so forth.
Thank you.
@ Elle – I’d like to comment briefly on two statements you make.
1) “I guarantee you that we have a much firmer grasp of the differences between UK vs. US English and the words relating thereto than you seem to give us credit for.”
It seems to me that someone outside of the US who calls American English “American” _does_ have a firm grasp of the differences between UK and US English. I don’t think BC was saying anything other than this. Sounds like the two of you are saying the same thing, except that BC finds the usage more prevalent. And what about Australian English?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_English_is_an_official_language
2) “The only thing we europeans refer to as “american” is a person who only speaks one language.”
Are you using the word “american’ in a derogatory manner here? Because that’s what I’m hearing. I feel the need to come to the defense of monolingual people everywhere; to me you are sounding “elitist”. I have only the utmost respect for the non-English-speaking immigrant populations (both Spanish-speaking and Asian/Pacific Rim here in the SF Bay area) who strive to learn ESL in order to work in the community and raise their families – including being able to help their children achieve in school.
Great post, btw, Lily. Meant to say that above.
My trilingual (and I’m pretty sure non-elitist) sister lives in Germany right now and does translation work. I’m about to have a conversation with her about all of this.
Yes! Thanks, Andrew. Parks likes the book! Jeesh–move on.
Ha, yes.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8CQJUE02
Half of Europeans are American? Ayooooooooooo… (Associated Press, yall.)
Fair enough Elle – My experience is mainly with Swiss/Italian/French/Russian/Slovenian/Ukrainian etc.
As you say, Swedish people generally do have a much firmer grasp on English and it is indeed true I have never heard anyone from Sweden/Iceland/Denmark etc. use the phrase. But it is widely used – even in publishing.
Obviously Europe is different from N. America. That is what I said in my original post you commented on.
Cheers.
Hey don’t paint all Europeans with the same brush!
You’ve misread the review, Lily. It’s not Parks who claims that the stories in Best European do or should represent the culture of Europe as a whole, and that fiction’s job is to teach us about the author’s culture, it’s (well, according to Parks) Hemon, in the introduction to the anthology, as well as Edith Grossman, author of another book under review. Parks lays this out in the first paragraph:
“Americans do not read enough foreign fiction. The accusation is made by Aleksander Hemon in his anthology Best European Fiction 2010, and again by Edith Grossman, celebrated translator of Don Quixote, as well as many other Spanish works, in her Yale lectures, Why Translation Matters. Only 3 to 5 percent of books published in the US are translations, we are told. Hemon sees this as another manifestation of “culturally catastrophic American isolationism”; Grossman feels that the resulting incomprehension of foreign cultures has dangerous implications for world peace. Thus both these publications that invite us to experience other cultures do so within the frame of a polemic at home. ”
Parks’s point is that it doesn’t matter how much of the author’s culture comes through in their stories, as long as they’re good. Which I think you’re agreeing with here.
Here is an example of what I am talking about:
http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/-274417086/used/Jusqu%27Au%20Bout%20Du%20Monde%3A%20Roman%20%28Traduit%20De%20L%27Americain%20Par%20Jacques%20Martinache%20%29
This book is “Traduit De L’Americain”
I am not saying it is correct. The reason I am aware of it, is I have argued with my students endlessly about it not being correct….
@ Elle – I’d like to comment briefly on two statements you make.
1) “I guarantee you that we have a much firmer grasp of the differences between UK vs. US English and the words relating thereto than you seem to give us credit for.”
It seems to me that someone outside of the US who calls American English “American” _does_ have a firm grasp of the differences between UK and US English. I don’t think BC was saying anything other than this. Sounds like the two of you are saying the same thing, except that BC finds the usage more prevalent. And what about Australian English?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_where_English_is_an_official_language
2) “The only thing we europeans refer to as “american” is a person who only speaks one language.”
Are you using the word “american’ in a derogatory manner here? Because that’s what I’m hearing. I feel the need to come to the defense of monolingual people everywhere; to me you are sounding “elitist”. I have only the utmost respect for the non-English-speaking immigrant populations (both Spanish-speaking and Asian/Pacific Rim here in the SF Bay area) who strive to learn ESL in order to work in the community and raise their families – including being able to help their children achieve in school.
Great post, btw, Lily. Meant to say that above.
My trilingual (and I’m pretty sure non-elitist) sister lives in Germany right now and does translation work. I’m about to have a conversation with her about all of this.
Yes! Thanks, Andrew. Parks likes the book! Jeesh–move on.
Q: What do you call a person who speaks three languages?
A: Tri-lingual.
Q: What do you call a person who speaks two languages?
A: Bi-lingual.
Q: What do you call a person who speaks only one language?
A: American.
Q: Are you a mod or a rocker?
John Lennon: I’m a mocker.
That was Ringo.
You’re right!
I stand corrected.
Q: Are you a mod or a rocker?
John Lennon: I’m a mocker.
That was Ringo.
You’re right!
I stand corrected.