ORDER MATTERS
Thus, the order in which we present the elements does matter. It conditions the imagination to the following movement and the “what” we’re to tell.
Unfortunately, there are no magic formulas to know if 9, 8, 7 or 3, 6, 0 is better when telling a story. It is the writer, or the comic drawer who decides that. It is even your job to decide the cliffhanger. Something readers”hate” but need in order to remain interested.
ABOUT TRANSLATIONS
First, let me clear I demonstrated this in Spanish. English ain’t my mother tongue AND I’m a tad tone deaf. Of the possible 8 tones of the “ma” syllable in Chinese, I listen… None. However, I’m able to distinguish vowels in English. So, trying to figure this out in the atone, toned use of syllables for poetry in English won’t do1. I’ll translate, which probably won’t come through the way it is intended.
BORGES AND MUSICALITY
Borges does explain how the order of words mess up the musicality of verses in the way you will never be able to translate a poem written in a language to that same language, into what you would call a revised version.
<<Otra forma de traducción creo que es imposible, sobre todo si se piensa que dentro de un mismo idioma la traducción es imposible. Shakespeare es intraducible a otro inglés que no sea el suyo. Imaginemos una traducción literal de un verso de Darío:
Borges
«La princesa está pálida en su silla de oro» es literalmente igual a «En su silla de oro está pálida la princesa».
En el primer caso el verso es muy lindo, ¿no?, por lo menos para los fines musicales que él busca. Su traducción literal, en cambio, no es nada, no existe.»
<<Translation becomes impossible within the same language. Shakeaspeare can’t be rewritten in a different English, to his. This is another way in which translation becomes unthinkable. Let’s review a literal translation of a verse by Ruben Darío:
“In her gilded seat the pale princess be” is quite similar to “The pale princess is on her gilded chair”. The first case is lovelier than the second; given its musicality. The literal translation vanishes, it is nothing. 2>>
TO BE CONTINUED
- Yes, I’m able to use it to my advantage writing poetry BUT… I’m afraid I’m terrible at phonetics ↩︎
- Jorge Luis Borges, El oficio de traducir. Encuesta sobre la traducción por Fernando Sánchez Sorondo para La opinión cultural en el número sobre «Problemas de la traducción». Jorge Luis Borges, the craft of translating. Inquiry about translation by Fernando Sánchez Sorondo for La Opinión cultural about “Troubles in translation” in Borges todo el año (All round year Borges) blog; Lau키메라 showed me in regards to Borges. And this is quite a list of mentions.
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