Dear Translators: Thoughts on Translator Anonymity?
There were some interesting responses on a recent post that I began with “Dear Translators.” So what the heck, I’ll try it again — perhaps it can become a repeat topic here.
Dear Translators,
What is your opinion on translation and anonymity?
Translators are quite often left uncredited, whereas authors almost never are. Personally, I find that weird.
I’m not a professional translator myself, but I have done enough amateur translating to know that it’s hard work. In some respects translation is harder than simply writing something — one has to juggle two languages and cultures at once, and constantly balance the demands of creating a readable translation and being faithful to the original author’s text.
So why does it seem that in many fields (quite often in journalism, for instance), it seems to be acceptable for publishers not to credit translators for their work?
Is this anonymity a remnant of the pre-internet world? Has the web made it more possible for translators to promote themselves as individuals with a (for lack of a better term) “personal brand”? Are there any benefits to this sort of anonymity?
2 comments.
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