IIHL 2024 Translators’ Residency
During our stay at Selina for our annual translators’ residency, we held many workshops – some led by veteran translators, others by special guests. The practical workshops touched upon the most fundamental question of translation: how do you bring the otherness of the translated text into the target language without extra frills that would completely bring forward its foreignness? Every translator must address this issue in their own way, in their own language, with their unique tools.
Some of the workshops were more theoretical in nature. However, the questions that arose in these conversations also had a direct bearing on the very act of translation. For example, in the meeting with Danny Admasu , the translators were required to address the question of translation into Amharic and the way it touches on charged political problems; Nir Ratzkovsky presented the tradition of translating Molière into Hebrew and talked with us about some of the aesthetic and historical transformations revealed in the process; Valerie Waldman touched on the Hebrew writing of writers whose Hebrew is not their native tongue, and asked to what extent they develop “translated” poetics, and more.
Often, the translators would open a portal to their “work-desks”, to their processes, and the whole group would debate on their translation of a page, a paragraph, or a line, and collectively consider the problems – and possibilities – involved in this attempt. Along with all these moments, meetings were held with prominent writers – Yishai Sarid, Eshkol Nevo – who presented their work in the light of its translations and in relation to the current state of affairs (and the challenges it poses to Israeli artists).
We would like to extend our gratitude for the partnership of the Mifal HaPais. We would also like to thank the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Institute Francais of Tel Aviv, and the Cervantes Institute Tel Aviv for their help.