🦋 The mechanics of translation and blogging
So I'm wondering something about legality or (I guess) just about what's ethical behavior. When I finish my translation of "The Prefiguration of Lalo Cura" (which is starting to look like more real of a possibility, and maybe will have a rough draft in place sometime this week?) I think I might like to post it in some form at readin -- it is too long for a blog post but maybe a linked page. I'd like to get people interested in reading this story and potentially talking about the sound of the narrator's voice and the crisp solidity of the characterizations. But I don't know how within my rights it is to do that with Bolaño's text, how far have I made it my own text in the process of translating it? (Should probably take a look at Edith Grossman's new book for guidance in this regard.) (And yes, clearly I've already posted a lot of long excerpts here, both direct quotations and my translations -- a whole story of this length and of this recent vintage seems somehow different.) And on a similar note, a question/reflection about my blogging process. It's generally been that I will post the first or second draft of a translation as I finish it, occasionally even as unfinished fragments -- and sort of make minor revisions in place over time, and major revisions when they occur as a new post. I'm not sure how effective this is in engaging dialogue, which is sort of my dream-readin, hasn't really worked out that way so far but hope springs eternal... Possibly if I waited until I had more of a complete, revised work and posted that, more people would be interested in reading and chatting about it. And following on that, maybe a second level revision process would kick in, take this literary translation stuff to the next level. Let me know what you think, I'd appreciate it.
posted morning of Sunday, May 9th, 2010
➳ More posts about Translation
➳ More posts about Writing Projects
➳ More posts about Projects
➳ More posts about Putas asesinas
➳ More posts about Roberto Bolaño
➳ More posts about Readings
➳ More posts about Edith Grossman
"But I don't know how within my rights it is to do that with Bolaño's text, how far have I made it my own text in the process of translating it?"
I'm not clear on the context of your work, but if you don't have a contract granting you publishing rights in the U.S., you have standard fair use; if you do have a contract with the original publisher/rights owner, your contract spells out your rights.
But you can't legally fully publish a work you don't have rights to, and that includes translation rights.
posted afternoon of May 9th, 2010 by Gary Farber
I see. That answers that question then; thanks. Posting the whole story is certainly not fair use; I guess I will make this available to interested parties by email rather than publishing it on the blog.
posted afternoon of May 9th, 2010 by Jeremy
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