# Translation, Migration, Mobilization Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mz6EFd1gxpM Recap page: https://rapidrecap.app/video/mz6EFd1gxpM --- ## Quick Overview The panel discussion on translation, migration, and mobilization reveals that literary translation is a fundamentally relational and often challenging practice, navigating linguistic nuances, genre conventions, and the commercial demands of the publishing industry, particularly in the US market. Translators often contend with the idea of authorship as a shared endeavor, the untranslatability of certain cultural or linguistic specificities, and the ethical implications of how and why certain literatures gain an audience. **Key Points:** - Translation is fundamentally relational, as writer and translator Karina del Valle Schwersky states, "the work feels like mine" even when articulating someone else's poem, suggesting that "How is anything born but through a foreign body?" - Panelists navigate diverse linguistic backgrounds; John Keene, for instance, moves between Portuguese and French, viewing language learning as a "liberatory experience" that offers "access to other ways of looking at the world." - Mona Karim, who learned English as a second language at 17, describes her relationship with English as one of "labor and exhaustion," noting that "literature was part of my process of learning English." - Translators often contend with the "untamed" nature of source texts; Mona Karim criticizes how English translations often "butcher" Arabic novels into "short sentences" that are "tamed and organized," suppressing their original stylistic power. - Publishing translated works faces challenges due to "US taste" and the "capitalist industry"; Jenny Croft spent 10 years trying to sell Olga Tokarczuk's *Flights*, which was deemed "too slow" and "too strange" by editors. - Translation can be a "counter-hegemonic practice," as John Keene suggests, allowing for a different way of thinking about and reading into language, including "translating blackness." - The demand for translated literature can be problematically tied to geopolitical events; Salman Sharif's anecdote highlights how military actions, like the bombing of Afghanistan, can create a narrow, temporary "appetite for translated literature." **Context:** The discussion, titled "Translation, Migration, Mobilization," served as the final event in Jewish Currents' "politics of literary practice" series, exploring the relationship between literary form and social meaning. Moderated by Claire Schwartz, the culture editor of Jewish Currents, the event featured three distinguished translators and writers: Jennifer Croft, Mona Karim, and John Keene, who shared their insights on the complexities and ethical dimensions of literary translation. ## Detailed Analysis The event, the final in the "politics of literary practice" series, explored the intricate relationship between literary form and social meaning through the lens of translation, migration, and mobilization. Moderator Claire Schwartz introduced the concept of translation as a relational act, citing Karina del Valle Schwersky's view that "the work feels like mine" even when translating another's poem, and Emnor Besse Philip's idea of "circular breathing." Panelists John Keene, Mona Karim, and Jenny Croft shared their personal journeys into translation, highlighting how their linguistic roots inform their practice. Keene, who self-taught languages and grew up code-switching, sees translation as a "counter-hegemonic practice" that can transform understanding of the world. Karim, a monolingual Arabic speaker until 17, described learning English as a process of "labor and exhaustion" across various life contexts, viewing literature as integral to her learning. Croft, who accidentally fell into Polish translation, emphasizes the dynamic, ever-changing nature of translation and the idea that "everything is translatable" depending on the definition. The discussion delved into the challenges of syntax and untranslatability, with Karim criticizing how English translations often "butcher" Arabic novels into short, "tamed and organized" sentences, erasing their stylistic power. Keene shared experiences with Brazilian and Swiss texts that defied conventional American prose expectations, facing pushback from publishers. The panelists also explored the relationship between genre and translation, with Karim expressing a preference for poetry and her experience translating Octavia Butler's *Kindred* as a learning process that revealed the mastery of dialogue. Croft discussed the decade-long struggle to sell Olga Tokarczuk's *Flights* due to its perceived "slowness" and "disorganized" nature, noting that readers are often more adventurous than publishers assume. The conversation concluded by touching on the problematic and often violent nature of translation, particularly how imperial military actions, like the bombing of Afghanistan or the war in Ukraine, can create a narrow, opportunistic appetite for translated literature in the US, as exemplified by Salman Sharif's anecdote about the scarcity of Afghan poetry in libraries. ### Panelists' Linguistic Journeys - John Keene's self-taught language acquisition and view of translation as a counter-hegemonic practice - Mona Karim's experience learning English as an exile and its "labor and exhaustion" - Jenny Croft's accidental entry into Polish translation and her focus on contemporary women's writing ### Translation as a Relational Practice - Karina del Valle Schwersky's perspective on authorship as fundamentally relational - Emnor Besse Philip's concept of "circular breathing" in translation - The idea that one's work is deeply connected to another's syntax ### Challenges of Syntax and Untranslatability - Mona Karim's critique of English translations "butchering" Arabic novels into short, organized sentences - John Keene's experiences with Jean Wyllys's condensed prose and Nicolas Pages's strobe-like style facing publishing pushback - Jenny Croft's view that "everything is translatable" depending on the definition, despite the concept of untranslatability ### Genre and Market Expectations - Mona Karim's preference for poetry translation and her "anti-novel" stance - Jenny Croft's struggle to sell Olga Tokarczuk's *Flights* for 10 years due to its perceived "slowness" and "disorganization" - The influence of "US taste" and the "capitalist industry" on publishing translated works ### Politics and Ethics of Translation - The idea of translation as a "violent and charged" practice - The observation that imperial military action can create a narrow, opportunistic appetite for translated literature - The example of the scarcity of translated Afghan poetry in US libraries after the bombing of Afghanistan