Translation loss is inevitable and driven by the translator’s preconceptions

Evidence

It is in the nature of the literary work to present its translator with problems for which the perfect solution is impossible… There is never enough closeness of fit between languages for formal features of a work to be mapped across from one language to another without shift of value… Something must be “lost”; that is, features embodying certain complexes of values must be replaced with features embodying different complexes of values in the target language. At such moments the translator chooses in accordance with his [sic] conception of the whole—there is no way of simply translating the words. These choices are based, literally, on preconceptions, prejudgment, prejudice. — Donna Landry and Gerald MacLean, The Spivak Reader, 2194

Categorization

• DEFINE: This is a classic definitional account of why perfect translation is impossible and where translator judgment (and prejudice) enters.
• XREF: Useful warrant for Spivak’s own practice of translating Bengali with deliberate editorial voice — connects to the translator-as-writer debates. — connects to: Concentration-camp language forces a translation that must always fail; Behavior determines meaning, blocking radical language translation; Translators favor readable English over literal fidelity while refusing simplification — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 78 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Concentration-camp language forces a translation that must always fail #expands (0.85)
• Translators may deliberately sacrifice the opacity of a difficult original for readability #qualifies (0.85) — L. P. Harvey, Muslims in Spain, 1500 to 1614, 831
• Behavior determines meaning, blocking radical language translation #expands (0.80)
• Translators favor readable English over literal fidelity while refusing simplification #qualifies (0.75) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 78
• Classical translations routinely distort meaning through culturally specific terms #exemplifies (0.75) — Donna Landry and Gerald MacLean, The Spivak Reader, 1600
• Translations adapt theoretical texts to local literary canons #expands (0.70) — Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities, 790