On Translating Samples

Observations about translating samples: there would be two ways to go about it, the short way or the long way. Laurence Olivier might have said: "Why don't you just try translating?" – i.e. just translate whatever amount of words to serve a purpose. The thing is, why would you be translating a sample in the first place? Reasons I can think of include: I know the author, I read about them in a newspaper, someone told me to check them out, someone asked me to. So while a sample might on the one hand be viewed as a means to an end, if I at all have the time (which usually means not having the time but making it anyway) I would go full Method Translating, that is to say, I would get as much context as I reasonably could, read the book more than once if possible, really get INTO what I'm translating so the translation, fingers crossed, has got IT, and also be a more effective means to an end, in the end (that is to get the author translated and published in English). 

Published 21 May 2023