Raybassa and Benjamin on translation

Gregory Raybassa is a literary translator from Spanish and Portuguese into English who I have never heard of. But I was struck by an a recent interview with him in the New York Times where he quoted Walter Benjamin, the German literary critic, as saying:

No translation would be possible if in its ultimate essence it strove for likeness to the original.

5 Responses to “Raybassa and Benjamin on translation”

  1. Patrick Riley Says:

    I liked this quote as well: \”When I talk about it, I say the English is hiding behind his Spanish. That\’s what a good translation is: you have to think if García Márquez had been born speaking English, that\’s how a translation should sound.\”

    That\’s a good way to think about it. Next time I\’m trying to save a Japanese game developer from their own appalling taste in picking English names maybe I\’ll use a variant of that line.

  2. Ravi Says:

    i want to speak in english but i made mistake in grammer so kindly help me to improve my english knowledge.
    or let me know the online material for spoken english.

  3. Nandeesh Says:

    i will speak in english but i make mistakes in grammer so kindly help me to improve my english knowledge.

  4. shaik Says:

    sir i can”t speek fluently.so iwant improve pls.

  5. RSD Says:

    sir, i want to speak in english fluently…
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