Translating the literature of languages of limited diffusion into more widely spoken tongues
Abstract
This lecture, which deals with the translation of the literature of languages spoken on a limited basis, begins by making a statement on the situation of the Mansy people, as a representative of so many other small peoples who populate our planet. As the speaker points out, when addressing this subject it is also necessary to think of the people itself "because if a people disappears, there will be no one to use its language or write literature or make translations in that language".
After reflecting on the different concepts which may be hidden behind the expression "languages spoken in a limited area", the authoress expresses the need to translate from these languages because very few people can understand their literary creations, but this will only be possible provided that these peoples have something to say, i.e., provided that they have a literature which is worthwhile for other peoples to get to know.
The wealth of world literature, the "Weltliteratur" of Goethe, has increased thanks to the contributions of different peoples to the cultural wealth of humanity at different stages. Small nations can also enrich this literary patrimony and translation is the basis for the development of many national cultures as in the case of the speakers country, Hungary.
In the last part of her talk, the speaker describes an experience which is widespread in her country and consits of translating poems with the aid of a "co-translator" who is a native speaker of the source language, but who may not have any knowledge of the target language. Nevertheless, despite her long experience in this type of translation, the speaker confesses her doubts about the efficiency of this method as the reader of translations of poetry are not interested in the original, as he/she is never going to read the original version. However, this method may indeed be valid as a source of enrichment for the target language and of stylistic resources, and for this reason the speaker adds that it might be very interesting for the Basque language and for writers and translators of Euskara.
