28 The Linguist Vol/60 No/2 2021
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OPINION & COMMENT
Email linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk with your views
Changing times
Ways of marking remote time seem to be
changing: from AD and BC we have moved
on to CE (common era) and BCE (before the
common era). Now the letters 'cal bp' are
beginning to be used by archaeologists when
writing about radiocarbon dating. They stand
for 'calibrated years before the present',
placing a possible date using the year 1950
as a baseline because of changes since then
in atmospheric radiocarbon concentration
with the beginning of the nuclear age.
Professor Tim Connell Hon FCIL
If you are a literary translator your work is
probably the most important thing in your life.
But you have to eat. And pay the bills! So you
must find paying work. How do you do this?
It is, of course, ideal if you are on the list of
publishers who will ask you to translate
novels that involve languages with which you
are native-perfect, but what if you do not
have these connections? What if you are just
beginning in the field of literary translation?
If you are a member of CIOL, publishers
and authors can discover you, and other
suitable candidates, using the Find-a-Linguist
service. Being on this list is a long way from
being selected. You may also promote
yourself online: authors and publishers are
looking for you just as you are looking for
them. You can also write to selected
publishers stating your language combination.
Many authors who are currently writing
deserve to be translated. I will list just three.
Mercedes Pinto Maldonado has written a most
unusual novel that the whole world should
read: Cartas a una Extraña. Juan José Millás,
the incisive columnist of El País, has written
many short novels, some almost surrealistic,
especially Laura y Julio. Marc Levy is said to be
the most published author in France and each
of his books is different and very readable. I
recommend Une Fille Comme Elle to warm
your hearts. I believe these books are already
translated into English, but not into many
other languages. Here may be
your chance.
There is one question that
puzzles me: do many
translators translate the book
first and then find a publisher who
will sort out the rights with the original author/
publisher? If you do this, perhaps you can
share details of how this method works out.
Song translation is another interesting field
for CIOL translators. Possibly the most
translated song in the world is Ne Me Quitte
Pas, written by the Belgian singer-songwriter
Jacques Brel. English translations are legion
but many are very poor and inaccurate. Apart
from literal translations of words which make
nonsense of the meaning, the words often do
not match the tone of the song. Ne me quitte
pas is usually translated as 'please don't go
away', which misses the plaintive, hopeless,
desperate effect of the French words.
Translating song lyrics is difficult, but if you
feel this could be your field, how do you get
into it? Do you need to be enterprising,
looking out for suitable songs, translating
them and sending them to chosen singers?
I hope these thoughts will be a two-way
conduit and that literary translators will write
back to tell us all how they get contracts (if it
isn't a trade secret). Please write via
linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk.
Maurice H Varney FCIL
Questions of literary translation
Star Letter prize
This issue's Star Letter writer
wins a copy of Alex Bellos's
The Language Lover's Puzzle
Book. For your chance to
win, share your views via
linguist.editor@ciol.org.uk.
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Crossword solution
Puzzle opposite
IMAGES
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