God’s language – translated literature and subtitled films
Growing up in Israel, I was used, from an early age, to read translated literature and to watch movies with subtitles. As children we read stories translated from many different languages: English, Russian, Polish, German, French, Swedish and Italian. Some of the books were even translated through a third language into Hebrew. For example, in the early part of the 20th century one of the famous Israeli poet translated Shakespeare from Russian into Hebrew.
I remember watching my favorite actress Hayley Mills starring in Disney Movies which were based on some of my favorite books. For example The Parent Trap was based upon the German book Lottie and Lisa Das Doppelte Lottchen by Erich Kästner), Pollyanna, based on the book by the same name by Eleanor H. Porter and in In Search of the Castaways, an adaptation of the French novel by Jules Verne Captain Grant's Children.
Whenever I go into the children section of a typical American public library I am surprised by the meager collection of translated books. It is rare to find books by “foreign authors” like Erich Kastner, Jules Verne, Selma Lagerlöf, Kristina Nestlinger to name a few.
I am sure that there are many explanations for this absence. However, it is sad that young American readers grow up reading only about children like them and about reality which is familiar and comfortable to them. Learning about the world from books develops the imagination and teaches the young reader about the world. The huge success of Harry Potter shows that children are ready and willing to broaden their horizons.
Often when I meet Americans, of all ages, who tell me that they don’t go to foreign films because they are heavy and besides they don’t like to read subtitles, I feel sorry for them as I am quite certain that as children they believed that books were only written in God’s language --English
P.S.
In response to my post a friend sent me this link with the following comment
And apart from Stieg Larsson I cannot think of anything that is recent.
Thinking about Stieg Larsson and what you had written I realized that the original Girl With The Dragon Tattoo movie was in Swedish and released with English sub-titles in 2009. The English language remake, just two years later, used about 95% of the scenes and locations of the original. I had wondered why they bothered but you are right, people will not read sub-titles
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About orna
I teach English as a second language at the College of Management Academic Studies in Israel. My area of research is the cultural scene of 1950s Britain. I am also interested in literary translation and translate Modern Hebrew poems into English.
Connections
orna’s Favorite Books
The Glass of Blessings
Middlemarch
Private Papers
The Good Husband
Sense and Sensibility
The Chronicles of Barsetshire
When We were Orphans
Great Expectations...
Three Percent
While reading your post, I remembered that only about 3% of all books published in the United States are works in translation. A good place to keep track of the latest works of translation into English is here at this web site. http://www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent/index.php?s=about
translated literature
How interesting, I didn't know that but in a way I am surprised that it is that high:-)
... And yet, as far as know,
... And yet, as far as know, when Harry Potter was published in the US, they Americanised a few things. I remember being shocked, when I came across a copy of the first part, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in a New York bookshop, when the original title is actually Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
I lived in Italy for many years, and I find it far less insular in comparison with England, from the point of view of foreign literature, films and news. I find far more articles about non-Italian and non-Spanish culture in, respectively, Il Corriere della Sera and El Pais, than I do in The Guardian. There are far more foreign films shown in Italy (where, instead of being subtitled, everything is dubbed), than in the UK. We are currently having a wave of Scandinavian thrillers on television but very little else.
During a recent trip to Rome, I ventured into a large bookshop and felt like I had stepped into a true treasure trove of foreign books translated into Italian. In comparison, few foreign books can be found in English translation in London bookshops.
Thank you for the insight about Israel. It's very interesting to know.
Thanks for your interesting
Thanks for your interesting comment Katherine, I felt the same way as you when I got into book stores in Instanbul, they had so many books in translation and the stores were full of people of all age. It is always wonderful to see that so many people read.