Bellos Reading

 This reading shifted how I view the debate between smooth, "fluent" translations and intentionally awkward "foreignizing" translations. While it may seem that making a translation sound slightly off-beat or foreign was the more respectful, ethical choice, Bellos emphasizes the paradox that "foreign-soundingness" isn't actually authentic foreign culture. It is just invented by the receiving language. When a translator bends English to sound "German", like in some of the Kafka translations mentioned, they aren't giving us the original German experience, they're giving us what English speakers think German sounds like, which can easily slide into a performative or goofy stage accent if carried too far. Additionally, as comical as examples of Adriano Celentano's pseudo-English song or Chaplin's gibberish show, sounding foreign doesn't require real words or meaning, just phonetic mimicking. Ultimately, the chapter made me realize that trying to force a text to "sound foreign" often says more about our own cultural tropes than the original work, and at the end of the day, a translator's real job is simply representing the meaning of the text, which is difficult enough on its own.

Emma