Old Words, New Words: Translating Classic and Contemporary Literature

While contemporary fiction is generally translated in a contemporary mode, things can quickly get complicated when a translator approaches an older literary work. Suddenly there are choices to be made on how to communicate the age and style of the work– lots of choices! And it turns out that some of the factors we take into account when translating older works can also be helpful in approaching contemporary literature. Acclaimed translator Susan Bernofsky will speak about her favorite techniques for retranslating classic older works – like Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, and Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain – and how to apply them to contemporary translation projects.