The Linguist is a languages magazine for professional linguists, translators, interpreters, language professionals, language teachers, trainers, students and academics with articles on translation, interpreting, business, government, technology
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REVIEWS In Translation Esther Allen and Susan Bernofsky (eds) Columbia University Press, 2013, xxiii + 264 pp; ISBN 978-0231-15969-2, Paperback, £20.50 Subtitled 'Translators on their work and what it means', In Translation comprises 18 essays by leading translators of literature. When we read a poem or novel in translation, we see only the product of the translator's work; in these essays we meet the translators themselves and get at least a hint of the processes from which the product emerges, and of how translators situate themselves in relation to the literary traditions they mediate between. Eliot Weinberger, for example, writes of how translation enriches literary cultures – 'cultures that do not translate stagnate, and end up repeating the same things to themselves'. David Bellos counters the popular view that a good translation is one that gives the illusion of having been written in the receiving language, and suggests that translators should sometimes transfer elements of foreignness; this can also be a source of lexical enrichment for the receiving language. Haruki Murakami recounts his long-delayed approach to translating The Great Gatsby, including his fruitless 20-year search for a Japanese equivalent of 'old sport'. Michael Emmerich suggests a new metaphor for the translator: Vol/52 No/5 2013 'a ghost who haunts languages, cultures and nations, existing in two worlds at once but belonging fully to neither' and who sees languages as 'ghostly signs or echoes of each other'. He gives a fascinatingly detailed account of translating a short passage of Japanese. Catherine Porter unpicks the simplistic distinction between 'servitude' (faithfulness to the author's intent) and 'collaboration', in which translators' own interpretations are allowed to enter a text, and proposes a more nuanced view of how translators approach their work. She also suggests that the distinction between literary and non-literary texts is less clear than commonly supposed. Alice Kaplan considers the many possible relationships between author and translator, and suggests that there is 'no better writer's workshop' than translating. Maureen Freely tells how she became part of the story of the persecution of Orhan Pamuk, whose work she had translated. I have only given glimpses of the variety in this anthology, which is replete with wisdom, insight, experience and humour, and will be of great interest not only to translators, but to anyone who reads literature in translation or who has a general interest in the process of writing. Jonathan Marks MCIL Correction A full-stop was mistakenly added to a sentence in our review of Language Change (TL52,4). The sentence should have begun: 'The following ten chapters describe how and why sound changes, syntactic changes and semantic changes arise from variational features already present in a language…' The Coder Special Archive Tony Cash & Mike Gerrard Hodgson Press, 2012, 460 pp; ISBN 978-1906-16425-6, Paperback £12.99 The Coder Special Archive is a fascinating account of the clandestine life and work of some 1,500 naval conscripts – the coders special – born in the late 1920s and 1930s, who were taught Russian for the purposes of intercepting Soviet military radio traffic during the early years of the Cold War. The conscripts were trained as translators and interpreters at the Joint Services Schools for Linguists (JSSL), the first of which were established in 1951. They went on to carry out naval training, both on land and at sea, before being stationed in West Germany to commence their intelligence work. The book is divided into 15 chapters, supported by extensive material contributed by more than 70 ex-coders. It covers the coders' lives from the time of their recruitment to their post-Navy careers, and contains 83 illustrations, a chronology of events relating to the Cold War and a list of coder-specific terms and abbreviations. We learn of the rationale for the Russian language programme, the recruiting process, the coders' first time at sea as 'greenhorns', their time at JSSL, including their relationship with their tutors, what they got up to in their free time, the specifics of their work on land and at sea, their careers after 'demob', and their role in events relating to the Cold War in the Khrushchev, Brezhnev and Gorbachev eras. Particularly interesting and humorous are the tales of the coders' experiences during basic training, their highs and lows as naïve seamen (compared to regular naval ratings), largely unfamiliar with ship jargon, and their adventure-fuelled escapades while serving at Cuxhaven and Kiel in West Germany. Linguists will find food for thought in their recollections of learning Russian. Chapters 4, 5 and 6 are devoted to the Russian language programme. The coders were required to read Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in the original immediately after basic language training and went on to study Soviet military-themed works. They also watched Russian films and listened to Russian songs. The intensive programme was very successful and, after demob, many coders continued their studies at university, some becoming prominent figures in British public life and in the development of Anglo-Russian relations. Though recruited to the Navy to serve against Russia, many became ardent Russophiles and their passion for the Russian language and culture is evident throughout the book. The Coder Special Archive provides an interesting insight into the world of the coders special and their clandestine activities. Written in an entertaining and accessible style, the book appeals to military historians and is highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the Cold War and Anglo-Russian relations, as well as to linguists and readers with a general interest in Russia. James Farmer, University of Leeds OCTOBER/NOVEMBER The Linguist 27