Discussion Friday

[geraineon]

The translator's note for Goodbye, My Princess inspired this week's topic:

1. Do you read translator notes/author notes/prefaces/introduction/etc. before you read a book?

2. Are there any that was particularly memorable to you, for any reason at all?

3. If you read books in translation, have you ever had an experience where you wished some things were contextualized for you prior to reading the book? Either notes about the culture, the history of the setting, or other things. Or do you prefer these in footnotes, or incorporated into the translation somehow?

If you have other thoughts related to author/translator's notes, feel free to share!

Comments

[headstone]

I've always remembered MXTX's author's note for TGCF where she talks about her initial inspiration for the novel being the "I will never forget you!" scene at the end of Book 2—it's influenced the way I think about the story of a whole and what I take as her interests or priorities, at least initially.

I wish more official editions preserved author's notes, at least in an abridged or edited capacity—they're an element of web fiction paratext I find quite interesting.

[geraineon]

Would you prefer to not have known about her initial inspiration before reading? Or do you think it contributed positively to your reading experience?

It'll be nice if more official translations preserves author's notes, yes! But hm, if it gets too long, it can be something like an online supplementary text?

[headstone]

I liked it! It didn't give too much away about the rest of the story, it was just some nice insight under the hood.

[shipperslist]

1. I don't read them before I read a book because in the webnovels I've read, they're usually after a chapter. And even then, it depends. Back when I compiled the MDZS fantranslation into one volume, I deleted most TL notes simply because I don't have any need for "SEME UKE wowza UWU!!"""!122" kinds of notes. If they're relevant to the story or general commentary on the translation, then sure. Langya Bang TL notes were interesting. E.Danglars' notes are usually fun and interesting.

2. The aforementioned deranged seme-uke-uwu notes *shudders*

3. It really depends. Some idea about cultivation tropes would've probably been good before reading MDZS. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the long-ish author/translation notes in the middle of Langya Bang where they explained some of Mei Changsu's commentary and reactions. Then again, I enjoyed Cyan Wings' Mr. Melancholy just fine without knowing anything about the unlimited flow trope. :D

[geraineon]

Mm, I prefer when the TL notes are something about the TL process, or about the context of the story/something that might not be very clear/something genre specific.

Mr. Melancholy is an interesting one because it's not exactly an unlimited flow story, but it's what happens after... I'll say it's more like a superhero story for the most part. I also don't think unlimited flow is that difficult to understand (I could be wrong about this!). Some notes about the inspiration behind MDZS (or what it's subverting/playing straight/calling back/etc.) will probably be helpful to a lot of people, yeah.

[shipperslist]

(on hindsight, it was such a good idea to write a reply with a migraine rolling over me, lol)

Ah, yes, I know Mr. Melancholy doesn't really fit the trope but for me, it was the first time I encountered anything like it. I only ended up reading an article about it after I'd already read the book and it gave me quite a bit of perspective. But like I said I read and enjoyed it just fine even without the knowledge.

[geraineon]

I hope today there's no more migraine!

Mm, did the article and Mr. Melancholy make you want to read a usual unlimited flow story?

[shipperslist]

after about 14 hrs of sleep, yes, I feel better...

did the article and Mr. Melancholy make you want to read a usual unlimited flow story?
I'm not sure? I haven't come across one yet (I think), there's just the usual transmigration stuff. In general, I don't have a problem with ambiguity and unexplainable things happening so I think I'll be just fine. 🤔

[aurumcalendula]

Yep!

I really liked Lowe's preface and introduction to the 2010 Tuttle Press translation of The Water Margin which gave me a bunch of context about the story, various translations of it, and the editorial updates he made to Jackson's 1937 translation.

It's nice having general context about some stuff in prefaces, but I'm very fond of footnotes.

[geraineon]

That's great! For a story like The Water Margin, context is definitely important and will enrich the experience of reading the text.

I'm very fond of footnotes as well. We can have both~

[halfcactus]

It depends on the book//my mood, but I did really like the translator's note in Goodbye My Princess (even though a part of me wishes I'd just read it after I finished the book because I preferred to go in fully blind in this case).

Re: historical notes - I was switching back and forth two different translations of The Red and the Black (Stendhal) where one of them had a ton of footnotes explaining, well, everything, and the other one had nearly no footnotes and was written in a more contemporary and easy-to-read style... and now I wish for it to be the norm to have multiple translations of the same cnovel so I can get the best of both worlds. XD

[geraineon]

Right?! Like, I have various versions of Crime and Punishment and various versions of Don Quixote, and I think it's great that there are choices and we can compare them. But I think it'll be hard for webnovels, partly because of the weird toxicity around having multiple translations of the same title, and also it probably doesn't make economical sense to publishers who want to make a quick buck off the Current Hot Novels (danmeis).

[douqi]

Another thing is that I think webnovels aren't being taken seriously as literature, so there's a strong tendency towards producing a 'good enough for the fans' commodity. I also wonder if this is why the more literary/experienced CN->EN translators aren't being approached for (or maybe aren't interested in) webnovel translation?

Still hoping for a Tor edition of MDZS with a brand-new translation. Maybe when the Seven Seas' licence runs out?

[geraineon]

Yeah, and I can see why too (quality varies so wildly and it's not tradpub-ed.

Crossing fingers for a Tor edition *anything*

[ehyde]

I think Tor would be a great fit for Tai Sui (which the danmei publishers probably won't want anyway due to how there's no romance), the setting and fantasy worldbuilding seem like they could appeal to a lot of the audience Tor already has

[douqi]

I did wonder if edanglars ever thought about pitching it to Tor? Though they seem to have stepped back from the fan translation scene now.

I also wonder whether the biggest stumbling block for a publisher like Tor might not be the sheer length of these novels. Does anyone who isn't Brandon Sanderson get a ten-volume contract now?

[aurumcalendula]

I find find different translations really interesting! I'm sad Peach Flower House closed down, but I am very curious how the new translations of Golden Terrace and Little Mushroom will compare to the older ones.

[geraineon]

oh right! I forgot that there will be a retranslation of those two. I guess we will soon be able to compare~

[douqi]

I'm also interested in seeing how the Seven Seas translation of Mo Du compares with the very popular fan translation by edanglars.

[douqi]

This made me reflect on my own practice with regard to translator's notes, and I'd love to say that I have a careful and comprehensive policy on them, but in reality they boil down to: (1) notes that are necessary to explain a term/reference used in the text (e.g. if the character calls someone 'shijie', or refers to 'the legendary husband-watching rock', I need to explain what those mean); (2) notes about that are not strictly necessary for (1) but which I think x_los as my editor would find interesting (or exasperating).

As I translate To Embers We Return, I have been thinking about how best to present the author's notes in the eventual epub. No conclusions yet so far, but there's absolutely no rush considering that this is going to take me another 3.5 years at the quickest.

[geraineon]

The stuff you want to include as translator's notes are exactly the things I'd enjoy reading~

It'll be nice to read the author's notes along with To Embers! What kinda notes are they, generally? Processes, thoughts, foreshadowing, roads not taken?

[douqi]

It's a mix of admin (reminding readers that subsequent chapters will be VIP, etc), mostly-comedic meta-commentary on the events of the chapter, and light previews (e.g. 'we'll be fast-forwarding to the meeting in the next chapter').