File spoon-archives/french-feminism.archive/french-feminism_1996/96-06-15.140, message 97


Date: Thu, 11 Jan 1996 13:58:47 +0000 (GMT)
From: "K. O'Grady" <ko10001-AT-cus.cam.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: how many of you are reading in translation?



Well, most of Kristeva I read first in English but am now reading in 
French.  And though I read her texts in French now, I tend to have a 
French dictionary on one side of me and the English translation (if it 
exists) on the other side of me for help.  I find this works very well.  

Always, it is better to read it in the french original, but by no means 
are you prevented from understanding the work if you read it in 
translation.  That is what translators are for, after all.  And they do a 
pretty good job overall.  Not to mention that someone like Kristeva (or 
Braidotti) has excellent English and often oversees the translation to a 
certain extent.  As well, texts like _Proust and the Sense of Time_ came 
out FIRST in English and then in the expanded french _Le Temps 
Sensible_.  

I am very sceptical of the "oh you must read it in the original" line of 
argument.  It is possible to get a very good grasp of a thinker through 
translation.  It *is*, however, very helpful to verify important sections 
of the text when you cite them in your paper. 

Someone like Cixous is more difficult (and Irigaray as well) to 
translate, I believe, because so much of her writing functions through 
the style: puns, word plays, etc.  But again, not impossible.

My 2 cents worth!

Kathy




On Wed, 10 Jan 1996 Z916907-AT-mvs.cso.niu.edu wrote:

> How many people,roughly, are reading these texts in the original
> french and how many are reading in translation? My transcript says
> that I have an undergrad minor in french but I would never dream of
> attempting to read Irigaray or Kristeva in the original.
>                           Thanks,
>                              Tony Michael Roberts
> 


   

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