The EqualLanguage website has been set up by Patricia Billings, publisher, editor and adult literacy educator.
In four blogs Patricia covers different aspects of language, literacy and literature. The blogs are separate but linked by a focus on facts of inequality—in education, in language, in the global flow of literature—and on ways to advance the goal of equality.
The Translation Equation (17 September 2013) looks specifically at translation.
The Translation Equation
Books written in English are translated into many languages, but only a small fraction of books in other languages are translated into English. This unequal cultural exchange is a manifestation of larger economic and political inequalities. But there are publishers, translators and editors who are bringing books into English and advancing a more equal flow of literature globally, and I am happy to be a part of this community.
In our work of translating books for English-reading audiences, we are faced with questions not only of language, but also of culture, representation and ideology. For example, if a character in the original language text speaks a stigmatized accent or dialect, how do we render this "correctly" in English? Choosing the English accent or dialect may mean deciding on an "equivalent" ethnoracial, class or regional group here, so the decision about words is weighted with other meanings that intersect with and exceed the literal meaning of the words. Questions like these are complicated and sensitive, and they're a part of translating that translators and editors are not always given enough credit for navigating.
There's also the question of "mid-Atlantic English," the hybrid style of English that is designed to suit both British English and American English audiences—and in the tough book market, to save publishers money by publishing a single English edition for all markets, as opposed to separate ones: can this mid-Atlantic style satisfy both sides? Asking authors, translators and editors from either dialect to adapt to this style, to change words and idioms that are natural to them to others that are less so, is not easy. And even if the style is meant to comprise a balance of British and American elements, does its development at all imply a giving in to the dominance of American English (if this dominance is indeed true)?
Despite the questions and challenges it presents, I'm in favor of the mid-Atlantic style, for the economic value, and also for the linguistic value of creating a new hybrid form and what this represents—a language that's flexible and adaptable, not rigid and calcified along national lines. Of course, this hybrid form does not replace the British and US dialects or erase their differences; it's simply another code we can work with.
In upcoming posts, I'll explore questions like these about translation and English, starting first with examples from the series of translated Turkish novels and short story collections I'm working on as editorial director, the covers of which are shown above. Later, I'll cover intriguing questions and challenges that arise when we translate children's books into English and when we create bilingual editions. And in this blog, I'll be joined by guests, including translators, editors and publishers from the literature in the translation world.
Biography
Patricia Billings joined the Trustees of Outside In World in 2018. She is a publisher, editor and writer specializing in bilingual and translated books. She is co-writer of three recently-released, progressive, inclusive children’s books, Friends, Sharing and Love, published in 17 bilingual editions by Milet Publishing. She has served as Editorial Director of the Milet Turkish Literature Series, a collection of 15 novels and anthologies translated from Turkish into English, featuring many women, LGBTQ and radical writers. She cofounded Milet in 1995 and was director of the company for 15 years, in London, Izmir, and Chicago, where she helped grow it into a leading publisher of translated and bilingual books, with a list of over 500 titles in 26 languages.
Prior to Milet, she worked in Washington, DC, with the International Organization for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; the Jordan Information Bureau; and the North American Coordinating Committee for NGOs on the Question of Palestine, where her jobs included publishing, communications, policy and media analysis, and advocacy. Patricia was also an editor at The Jordan Times newspaper in Amman.
She has worked in the film world too, with the development and production firm NDF International in London, and with the International Film Festival in Izmir. She helped establish the Human Rights Watch Los Angeles Film Club and was a lead organizer of the club for several years. Patricia is a board member and judge of the Social Impact Media (SIMA) Awards. A longtime advocate for human rights and social justice, she is currently most focused on antiracism and anti-incarceration activism.
Patricia grew up in Chicago, in a family of ten. She studied political science with a focus on Middle East politics at Northwestern University; Arab studies at Georgetown University; media studies at the University of London; and adult education teaching and mindful awareness practices at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is currently exploring ways that mindfulness practice and radical social justice practice can intersect.
