New translations vs. old: Which do you prefer?

[Benny Profane]

In some aspects, I'm neutral.
I just like to read the cheaper version. ?

If the new translation has a better translation, I prefer this one (even though is more expensive).

If not (some reeditions are republications of luxurious editions), I could buy second hand books and to be very useful for me in the same way.

 

[tiganeasca]

Liam, I am planning to read Beowulf. As of now, closed in on HEaney's translation. Do you suggest any other to start with, before Heaney ?

I'm hardly the expert that Liam is, but for what it may be worth, I read Heaney's translation of Beowulf and thought it quite good.

 

[tiganeasca]

...Maybe the most consecrated German translators of Shakespeare were the romantic authors Schlegel and Tieck.

LUDWIG Tieck??

 

[Liam]

Liam, I am planning to read Beowulf. As of now, closed in on HEaney's translation. Do you suggest any other to start with, before Heaney ?

As I said, Heaney's translation is a masterpiece, but not entirely true to the original (I would still read it for what it is, though!). My favorite "faithful" translation of the poem is by Kevin Crossley-Holland, I think it's available in the OUP series

 

[Leseratte]

LUDWIG Tieck??

Yes, and his daughter Dorothea. They were in fact a team of four: August Schlegel, Ludwig Tieck, Dorothea Tieck and the Count of Baudissin.
And just now, when googling about it I was surprised, It seems that another Tieck, Ludwig´s sister Sophie, was also involved in the translations but wasn´t credited.
" Although the title page of the donated Shakespeare editions states that two men called Schlegel and Tieck translated Shakespeare’s works into German, it was in fact a whole group of people. This included two remarkable women called Sophie and Dorothea Tieck, who translated the Bard’s works. Both women, not unlike Marie Levin, were ahead of their time. Sophie, the younger sister of Ludwig Tieck, was involved in debates on women’s rights and concerned about social equality. In addition to translating Shakespeare, she worked as an editor, and was even a writer in her own right. Her literary output includes novels, dramas and poetry. Fortunately, the perception of Sophie has changed considerably in scholarship. Until the 1960s she was seen as a “dilettante” but the study of her correspondence has helped to re-assess her role in the literary circle and she is widely perceived as an active contributor to the Romantic Movement. Dorothea, Tieck’s eldest daughter, showed an aptitude for foreign languages from a very early age. Reading Shakespeare in the original she also studied Greek, Latin, French, Spanish and Italian. Together with the German diplomat Count Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin, she translated the more difficult and lesser-known plays by Shakespeare and her translations were considered of a high literary standard. Unfortunately the women's names didn’t appear on the title page. Scholar Alan Corkhill describes the relationship between father and daughter Tieck as “exploitative” since Tieck claimed full authorship rights to the translation."

Shakespeare in German

On the German Day of Unity, Mareike Doleschal examines the custodial history of a set of German Shakespeare translations held in the Trust's library.

www.shakespeare.org.uk

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I liked this translation so much that, when I finally had access to the original, it seemed a pale version of Schlegel and Tieck!

 

[Patrick Murtha]

More important for me than new vs old is COMPLETENESS. I dislike abridged translations, although sometimes I will read them if there is nothing else.

I like Constance Garnett, although some people appear not to. ? For Dostoevsky, I agree she might not be the optimal choice - her instinct to “smooth out” does not serve his idiosyncrasies well. But in general, I think Garnett is a hero of literature.

 

[redhead]

As I said, Heaney's translation is a masterpiece, but not entirely true to the original (I would still read it for what it is, though!). My favorite "faithful" translation of the poem is by Kevin Crossley-Holland, I think it's available in the OUP series

What do you think of Howell D. Chickering's translation? I don't see it mentioned much, but I liked it and thought it seemed to maintain the alliteration and brevity of the original's lines while still being very readable. I'm just a layperson though, so I'm curious what you think?

 

[Patrick Murtha]

What do you think of Howell D. Chickering's translation? I don't see it mentioned much, but I liked it and thought it seemed to maintain the alliteration and brevity of the original's lines while still being very readable. I'm just a layperson though, so I'm curious what you think?

I liked this one too.

 

[Liam]

Chickering is widely used when introducing students to Beowulf for the first time (in terms of having a side-by-side translation together with the original): in many ways it is the closest you get to the primary text. Chickering is primarily a scholar, not a poet, so it was important to him to capture the actual poem, as verbatim as possible, rather than allow himself certain flights of fancy (no matter how poetic) such as Heaney allows himself. Also, from what I remember, Chickering's introduction is invaluable, as are the notes! My only complaint was that his version (being so utterly scholarly and all) seemed a little clunky in places; my favorite translation is still Crossley-Holland's, which is widely available in paperback (I think).