Carina del Valle Schorske on Literary Translation

At the New York Times, Carina del Valle Schorske recommends translation as a way to shift anxieties into artistry while learning a new language. "And the person whose words you’re translating" she explains "will keep you company through it all." Sounds pretty good! Let's pick up there: 

It’s telling that the Puerto Rican poet I’m drawn to most — Marigloria Palma — is known for her mystery. Here is my translation of Norma Valle Ferrer’s account of seeing her on the streets of San Juan: “We were nearly neighbors and I used to see her walking the old city: tall, slim, almost always dressed in a black pencil skirt and bright patterned blouse, and shoes with very low heels. ... It pains me that I never approached her, but she always seemed so ensimismada.”

In every process of translation, there’s always a word — or 10 — I don’t really want to translate. Sometimes English swallows these words whole, no italics necessary: “déjà vu,” “karaoke,” “schadenfreude.” I nominate “ensimismada” as an addition: its rumor of M’s and S’s, the way it snakes around itself then locks — “da” — like a necklace. If I translate it as “self-involved,” we lose this music and come face to face with all the negative judgments the music keeps at bay, too close for my comfort to “selfish” and “stuck up.”

Learn more about the practice of translation at New York Times.