Patience: A Project in Translation

Translation seems to be a simple process: a translator with a strong command of two languages renders a phrase from Language A into Language B for the purpose of wider communication. Given her intimacy with both languages, it should be a relatively easy task to transport meaning from one language to another. Yet a superficial transformation of language is not enough to create a successful translation; rather, a translator must seek to grasp and communicate the literary heart of a piece, as well as convert the complexities of its linguistic skeleton. I explored translation’s double nature by translating a French novel, La femme patiente, into English. After examining the work from a literary point of view, it was apparent that the author, Alain Gagnol, had constructed a prose style meant to underline the unique qualities of his protagonist. Clearly, it was my duty as a translator to maintain Gagnol’s French style in the English in order to preserve its literary integrity. But how? One question in particular that appeared repeatedly addresses a translator’s fidelity to the source text. How far may a translator stray from the original text while remaining “faithful”