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The Mistake on Page 1,032: On Translating "Infinite Jest" into German
Thread poster: Johanna Timm, PhD
Johanna Timm, PhD
Johanna Timm, PhD  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 10:01
English to German
+ ...
Mar 4, 2010

"What should a French Canadian speaking very bad English sound like in a German translation?”
Ulrich Blumenbach asked himself while translating David Foster Wallace’s monster-sized novel, Infinite Jest.

More here:
http://publishingperspectives.com/?p=11053

Enjoy!

johanna
 
Jack Doughty
Jack Doughty  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 18:01
Russian to English
+ ...
In memoriam
I once had something like this to deal with Mar 4, 2010

What should a Ukrainian speaking very bad Russian sound like in an English translation. The author of the novel I was translating suggested he should speak with a Cockney accent! But I wouldn't do this, I just had him speaking colloquial English, adding a note about his accent.
 
Hildegard Klein-Bodenheimer (X)
Hildegard Klein-Bodenheimer (X)  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 19:01
English to German
+ ...
Chapeau! Mar 4, 2010

How much patience and love for this book and it's author did Ulrich Blumenbach need to work on it for six years!

And the publisher's idea (Kiepenheuer & Witsch) to have a blog about this translation journee "100 Tage Unendlicher Spass (100 Days of Infinite Jest)" is great. Too sad that Blumenbach and David Foster Wallace never met.

Danke, Johanna
 
Niraja Nanjundan (X)
Niraja Nanjundan (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 22:31
German to English
Is there an untranslatable book? Mar 5, 2010

I find this question at the end of the article an interesting one. I read a short story by David Foster Wallace called "Forever Overhead" and would certainly agree that translating his works must be a labour of love and would require immense dedication. Not too sure if I would read "Infinite Jest" in German, though!
 


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The Mistake on Page 1,032: On Translating "Infinite Jest" into German







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