One passage in "Loaf or Hot Water Bottle" that struck me was Davis's discussion of knowledge of the author. She decides to conduct her translation without any particular knowledge of Proust himself. This resonated with my experience translating French prose, because when I translate a novel I translate the voice of the novel itself, not the individual who wrote it. This approach aligns with how a reader approaches the novel-- the novel is about the novel, not the person who wrote it (usually). Poetry, on the other hand...
Some of the examples about specific difficulties translating French aligned closely with my own experiences, while others were quite the opposite. I was surprised to hear that the frequency of "disait" was to a certain extent controversial as far as translators taking liberties; in some of the texts I have worked with from around the same time, it is the popularity of alternate words that pose difficulties (specifically a son tour). Davis' desire to begin and end sentences with the same words as Proust is laudable and also curious given the different word order of the languages. I look forward to hearing how those unfamiliar with French perceived these articles.
Grace
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