Problems in translating poetry

Keywords:translation, aesthetic values, expressive values, collocation, poetic structure, metaphorical expressions.
Translatingliterary works is, perhaps, always more difficult than other types of text because literary works have specific values. It is defined as a transfer of meaning from one language to another. But sometimes we hear people who do not speak or read a foreign language often have mistaken points of view on the nature of translation. Many of them consider it merely a mechanical process which is similar to decoding [1; 35]. As for Roman Ingarden as he states that the translation is never completely adequate; it is a problem in itself. Besides, it is as Quirk [2; 120] claims, "one of the most difficult tasks that a writer can take upon himself", while Richards [3; 87] claims that "it is probably the most complex type of event in the history of cosmos." The aesthetic function of the work will emphasize the beauty of the words (diction), figurative language, metaphors, etc. While the expressive functions put forward the writer's thought, emotions and the translator should try, at his best, to transfer these specific values into the target language. As one genre of literature, poetry has something special compared to the others. In a poem, the beauty is not only achieved with the choice of words and figurative language like in novels and short stories, but also with the creation of rhythm, rhyme, meter, and specific expressions and structures that may not conform to the ones of daily language. In short, the translation of poetry needs "something more" than translating other genres of literature. To quote Robin Williams’ brilliant character John Keating in Dead Poets Society, “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race: poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” Besides being what keeps us going as a species, poetry is also one of the most intimate, subjective and creative forms of expression. As such, it is probably the most challenging type of work a translator can come across. Both form and substance are to take into account when trying to render the beauty of a poetic text.

Poetry translation is considered one of the most complicated types of translation. Basically, poetry translation should be semantic one for a poem which is typically rich with aesthetic and expressive values. The translator may face the linguistic, literary and aesthetic and socio- cultural problems in translating it. The linguistic problems include the collocation and obscured syntactic structure. The aesthetic and literary problems are related with poetic structure, metaphorical expressions and sounds. The socio- cultural problems arise when the translator translates expressions containing the four major cultural categories: ideas, ecology, behaviour and products. According to Hariyanto (4; 271), poetry translation should be semantic translation for a poem is typically rich with aesthetic and expressive values. As the professor claims, a translator of poetry may face the linguistic, literary, aesthetic, as well as socio-cultural problems during his engagement in translation. One of the key challenges of literary translation is the need to balance staying faithful to the original work with the need to create something unique and distinctive that will evoke the same feelings and responses as the original. This can be particularly challenging when it comes to translating poetry. Poems are written with incredible attention to detail. Not only are the words and phrases important, but the number of syllables and the entire rhythm of the completed work. It’s a challenging task to complete just in one language, let alone when trying to recreate a poet’s work during a translation. Daniel Hahn, director of the British Centre for Literary Translation, sums up the issue beautifully:

“There’s not a single word in any of the languages I translate that can map perfectly onto a word in English. So it’s always interpretative, approximate, creative. Anything that is, itself, a ‘linguistic’ quality will by definition be anchored in a particular language — whether it’s idiom, ambiguity, or assonance. All languages are different.”

As literary translators will attest, a single word can be extremely troublesome. The author of a work of fiction has chosen that word for a good reason, so the translator must ensure that it is faithfully delivered in the target language. However, what if no direct translation is available? Or what if several options exist, each with a slightly different nuance? Urdu language translator Fahmida Riaz outlines her approach to such thorny issues:

“Every piece you translate comes from the pen of an individual, so you have to give it an individual treatment. I try to retain the ambience of the original culture, rather than the language, as it is reflected in the text.”