View Single Post
  #10  
Unread 08-30-2015, 10:26 AM
Roger Slater Roger Slater is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York
Posts: 16,746
Default

Since French is a language that many people can read somewhat, I suppose I agree that it makes sense to put the original on a facing page. But I would also consider putting the originals into an appendix instead of facing pages. I find that having the original right there in your face tends to detract attention from the translation as a worthy poem in English, reminding the reader that it is just a translation while encouraging the reader to use it merely as a crutch or a tool to access the original. For me, that often detracts from the experience, since I lose faith in the English while not truly entering the world of the original.

Anyone who is truly comfortable with the French doesn't need the translations at all. And anyone who has zero ability to read French doesn't need the original at all. So the whole idea of facing pages is to indulge those who know a bit of French but not all that much, and who wish to use the translations as a sort of extended footnote to help them read the French. The cost of doing so, however, is to force those without any French to keep looking at the French nonetheless.
Reply With Quote