Essay about David Katan’s Translating Cultures - 1038 Words

Fitzgerald or Fagles? Translations are essential to us and our culture, because through ancient documents, inscriptions and books, historians and archeologists reconstruct the ancient societies and civilizations, as well as the story of our forefathers and the history of the entire human race. They allow communication between us and different countries and nations, whose language might be different from ours and this may create difficulties in being able to understand each other. However, translators make this possible as they are the mediators between two different cultures. The need for translations is massive, from both a social and political outlook. According to David Katan’s Translating Cultures, â€Å"The translator is a bilingual†¦show more content†¦Though introductions of both translations of the original Ancient Greek Odyssey by Fitzgerald and Fagles have many similarities, Fagles’ is better structured, while Fitzgerald’s is more convoluted and the text is grouped together. For example, one of the more obvious ones is the division into paragraphs, which in Fagles’ translation is much more clear and neat in terms of layout; therefore it is easier to read and to follow. Fitzgerald’s translation, by comparison, is not divided into paragraphs; it is a bit more challenging to read, because there are no subdivisions or titles for each paragraph which would make the reader understand better what they are going to read about in that specific section. Nevertheless, through reading both introductions, the reader gets involved by the plot and the book itself, due to the summary and description of the historical background, which opens up the story of this famous archetypal hero: Odysseus. The first verses of a translation are those that tell us the most. In the Odyssey, the first verses are very important because the bard Homer asks the Muse to inspire him and aid him in narrating the story of the hero Odysseus but also it plays a key ro le in the summarizing of the whole narration. Therefore, the importance of these lines lies in its translation to engage the reader and convey not only Homer’s purpose but also the