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A very short note on the science of translation 
Translation is a nuanced discipline, and it takes a lot of research and effort to do a good job This is just a love letter to all my diaspora friends who are translators
Qing Dynasty scholar Yan Fu 严复wrote of the “Three Difficulties of Translation / 译事三难” in his translation of Thomas Henry Huxley’s “Evolution and Ethics” (天演论).
These are:
信 (xin): faithfulness
达 (da): expressiveness
雅 (ya): elegance
These are:
信 (xin): faithfulness 达 (da): expressiveness 雅 (ya): elegance
Even in modern circles, these 3 concepts are regarded as the gold standards for translation work. There’s plenty of literature out there on what constitutes a good translation, but I went with Yan Fu’s theory because it’s among the most widely quoted.
I’ll be illustrating what each concept means in practice, with one of my favorite lines from CQL:
蓝曦臣：“也许世上人心 终是横看成火 侧看成冰” （第43集)
Lan Xichen says this line to Wei Wuxian, in the same scene where he talks about his mother.
蓝曦臣：“也许世上人心 终是横看成火 侧看成冰” （第43集)
Lan Xichen says this line to Wei Wuxian, in the same scene where he talks about his mother.
信 / faithfulnessA good measure of faithfulness is the degree to which the translation follows the original text, in terms of accuracy of meaning.
With only faithfulness, and without expressiveness or elegance, this line reads:
“So maybe world on people’s hearts, at the end horizontal looking like fire, vertical looking like water.”
Is it an accurate translation? Yes.
But is it coherent? No.
“So maybe world on people’s hearts, at the end horizontal looking like fire, vertical looking like water.”
Is it an accurate translation? Yes.
But is it coherent? No.
达 / expressivenessExpressiveness is measured by the degree to which the text conforms to its contextual form, and how much its flow makes sense to the reader.
If we add a layer of expressiveness to the translation, it would now read:
“Perhaps at the end of the day, people’s hearts look like fire when viewed horizontally, and like water when viewed vertically.”
“Perhaps at the end of the day, people’s hearts look like fire when viewed horizontally, and like water when viewed vertically.”
It sounds slightly better, because we’re not rigidly sticking to the phrasing and syntax of the original sentence.
We’re also accounting for it being a figure of speech, rather than an excerpt from a political manifest, or a cooking recipe.
We’re also accounting for it being a figure of speech, rather than an excerpt from a political manifest, or a cooking recipe.
雅 / eleganceElegance is measured by the degree of learnedness of the ensuing translation, i.e. how well it captures intent, and how well it reflects the translator’s education and refinement. This is the highest standard of the 3 concepts.
With elegance, the translation would now read something like:
“Perhaps, at the end of the day, people’s intentions look different when considered from different perspectives — they could resemble fire in one instance, and ice in the next.”
“Perhaps, at the end of the day, people’s intentions look different when considered from different perspectives — they could resemble fire in one instance, and ice in the next.”
Again, there’s a difference here. The context and intent are both captured and carefully rearranged, to give the reader a richer perspective of what the original text intended to convey.
Prioritization of the concepts Some scholarly articles I’ve seen have placed the 3 concepts on a continuum. Others have put them in a triple constraint.
While both these methods are valid, one thing is clear — regardless of the nature of the source material, you can’t have a good translation without including at least some principles from each of the three.
Yan Fu himself provided a little insight on the balance between 信 and 达:
”求其信，已大难矣！顾信矣，不达，虽译，犹不译也，则达尚焉。”
”求其信，已大难矣！顾信矣，不达，虽译，犹不译也，则达尚焉。”
“It’s already difficult to attain faithfulness. If we only aim for that without considering expressiveness, it’s as good as not translating it at all. Therefore, we must value and pay attention to expressiveness.” (tl by me)
In summary:
Translation requires a high degree of fluency in both the source and target languages
MTLs often do not achieve even a basic level of faithfulness
You may achieve expressiveness in cleaning up a MTL, but it doesn’t guarantee elegance
Translation requires a high degree of fluency in both the source and target languages MTLs often do not achieve even a basic level of faithfulness You may achieve expressiveness in cleaning up a MTL, but it doesn’t guarantee elegance
In good translations, a lot of research goes into the cultural and linguistic depth of the source material Please send love to your translator friends who have been working hard to translate your favorite novels, manhua, and BTS clips/interviews!
Resources:
Baidu: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BF%A1%E8%BE%BE%E9%9B%85
Web of Proceedings, Huang, J. (2019): https://webofproceedings.org/proceedings_series/ART2L/ILELC%202019/ILECL034.pdf
CCJK, Li, S. (2013): https://www.ccjk.com/three-thoughts-translation/
Baidu: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%BF%A1%E8%BE%BE%E9%9B%85 Web of Proceedings, Huang, J. (2019): https://webofproceedings.org/proceedings_series/ART2L/ILELC%202019/ILECL034.pdf CCJK, Li, S. (2013): https://www.ccjk.com/three-thoughts-translation/
// disclaimer 1: on the 3 layers of translation for Lan Xichen’s line above
The translation is by me, and all mistakes and inaccuracies would entirely be my own!
The translation is by me, and all mistakes and inaccuracies would entirely be my own!
// disclaimer 2: on Yan Fu
I’d personally advise treading with caution when researching Yan Fu’s works and ideologies. He had some very outdated and inappropriate views, particularly with regard to the topic of e*genics
I’d personally advise treading with caution when researching Yan Fu’s works and ideologies. He had some very outdated and inappropriate views, particularly with regard to the topic of e*genics
Thanks for reading! 
Here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to slip me a little something (but please don’t feel obligated to, though)! https://ko-fi.com/auberjing
Here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to slip me a little something (but please don’t feel obligated to, though)! https://ko-fi.com/auberjing
