This is a long overdue post--my apologies! This past summer I attended the "Summer School" of the British Centre for Literary Translation in Norwich, U.K. It was a week of working with about ten other translators, Japanese to English, AND the author of the work we were translating. The last part was perhaps the most exciting, because there's nothing like having the author sitting next to you so that you can ask for clarification. There's also nothing like sitting next to an award-winning, nationally acclaimed author--in this case, Yoko Tawada. The other translators were for the most part professional translators (unlike myself...sure, I translate and publish, but it's not my "day job" as it were) and I was familiar with much of their work. The group was also very international, with members from the U.S., the U.K., India, New Zealand, Canada, and Japan.
I could write a too-long post about the experience, but what I thought was appropriate for this blog was this: translation is VERY HARD to make work as a career. The folks in my group, even though they managed to put food on the table by translating boring manuals for Toyota and the like, universally did their literary translation as a not-really-lucrative activity. They did it because they loved doing it, not because it pays well. I know many of my students have said in passing that they want to be translators someday (and yes, I know that they're largely thinking of manga) but I want to send out a word of caution that this is probably pie in the sky. That isn't to say that language learning is useless--goodness no!--but rather that one needs to be realistic about how many jobs there are doing literary translation (few) and how many there are doing technical translation (not a lot, but more). So, if you're thinking of a translating career, get used to "Toyota speak" and learn to live it. Then maybe you can afford a few spare hours to subtitle that anime you love...
1 comment:
I agree with you that the translation is hard as career. I am able to say because I was a project manager for a translation agency.
Although I didn't do any translation or interpretation personally, I learned about the translation industry firsthand.
Translation is a VERY competitive industry to be in. It is mostly a freelance industry with agencies and companies trying to lower their costs and every translator for themselves. If a translator's rate is too high for the company, they will just move on to the next translator on their list. You work on a project by project basis, never knowing where your next paycheck will come from. If you get steady work from a familiar client, that is rare.
I just thought I would share my thoughts on the translation industry because I once sat in those seats thinking I would like to be a translator someday. Now, I know it is not for me.
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