Tracking Translation

One might therefore ask what purpose is served by translating books from Estonian if they go unnoticed and are rapidly lost within the prolific and ceaseless flood of publications; (it is sobering to reflect on the fact that the French words meaning [publié], and [oublié], differ by only one letter!) In one of his poems, Karl Ristikivi writes: "A lizard's track over a stone also leaves a trace, even if we do not see it," (Ka sisaliku tee kivil jätab jälje/ kuigi me seda ei näe). I sometimes feel that we, translators of Estonian literature into French, resemble Ristikivi's lizard: each published translation, even if forgotten, is one piece of the mosaic which forms the image of Estonia in the French-speaking world, a trace which endures even if we do not see it, and which may be discovered, or rediscovered one day by another of those adventurers who walk, as do we, in Europe's literary margins, in search of hidden treasures.

(A lizard's track over a stone. Translations and Translators of Estonian literature into French by Antoine Chalvin)

Comments

[Sarah]

What a beautiful quote about the lizard. Thanks for posting! Makes me think of that Baudelaire poem "Anywhere Out of the World."

It's true that we never know what marks we make, who reads us, who remembers.