I thought "The Art of Losing" was a very interesting read, and made me think about the difference between translating poetry and translating prose. To me, translating prose is easier to follow the form and also the meaning of the work, because while some authors use wordplay, etc. often, the form is pretty standard, and it is easy to keep consistent. Poetry, however, is very different, and often it evokes different emotions within the translators in the first place. So, I think that it is very interesting to read varying translations, and vary translators' interpretations of the work, because for poetry, it is more about the effect the text has on the reader than the original intention, in my opinion.
I also thought the article on Szymborska was interesting, and a bit sad that not even the Nobel prize could push her works to the forefront in some countries, but I think translating her work will be very intriguing, given what all the translators say about her work, how it is made to be translated and how smoothly it translates into other languages.
To be honest, I did not care for the work about the gender of translation, because I feel that the comparison of women to a translation and men to an original is not only confusing and without basis, but it is also misogynistic to assume that an original work is not female. I do not understand why this comparison is always made, and I do not like it. The work immediately lost me after that point.
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