After School - Week 9

This past week has been a whirlwind of exams and deadlines, but somehow I’ve managed to squeeze in a bit of reading, watching, and reflecting. It feels good to pause and share these little insights and discoveries, even in the midst of all the chaos. Here’s what’s been on my mind lately:

Course Insights

• Edward Fitzgerald, the translator of Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, once said: “It is an amusement for me to take what liberties I like with these Persians who (as I think) are not poets enough to frighten one from such excursions, and who really do want a little art to shape them.” This comment clearly suggests that Fitzgerald approached Persian poetry with a certain degree of condescension. Personally, I find his dismissive tone troubling—it feels reductive to judge an entire poetic tradition through such a narrow cultural lens.
• The intrinsic value of a work remains constant over time, yet its reception changes. Think about the works re-discovered and/or re-published from a different approach. Their intrinsic value must have remained the same, yet it was the reception which changed.
• The point above reminds me of Pierre Menard, who rewrote Don Quixote word for word as if he were Cervantes. Despite producing an identical text, he claimed it wasn’t the same because the perception and context had shifted. This raises the question: do we admire renowned authors for the inherent quality of their work or because their fame shapes our perception?

• In The Translator’s Invisibility, Lawrence Venuti examines the translator’s shadowy existence in Anglo-American culture, where translation is often legally! classified as an adaptation or derivative work.
• Antoine Berman emphasizes the importance of presenting the cultural “other” within the translated text, treating translation as a space for cultural exchange.

Etymological Fun Facts

• In Schleiermacher’s famous translation theory, he distinguishes between two poles: Dolmetscher (interpreter) and Übersetzer (translator). Interestingly, Dolmetscher, which refers to oral interpretation, traces its origins back to the Old Turkic word tilmaç—later dilmaç in Turkish—meaning “interpreter” or “translator.” The word, derived from til (“language”) and maç (agent suffix), made its way into Germanic languages through medieval trade and cultural exchanges, emphasizing its practical, spoken roots.

What to Read (WTR)

I’ve just started reading The Museum of Innocence. A series of events led me here: there is a guest in my seminar class presenting on it, the book has an actual museum in Istanbul that I want to visit while I’m still here, and there’s an upcoming TV adaptation. Plus, I watched the author’s recent interview, which intrigued me.

As for my first impressions, his writing style isn’t particularly eloquent and often feels redundant, which makes me question certain things. The book is quite long—about 600 pages—and I honestly believe a good editor could have cut it in half. Still, I want to finish it before forming a solid opinion. I’ve heard people praise his other works, so maybe I’ll give them a chance afterward.

What to Watch (WTW)

I’ve been watching a warm and bubbly Chinese youth drama—When I Fly Towards You— that made me appreciate life’s little moments. It was so heartwarming that I couldn’t resist writing a review about it—even before I finished the series! Go check it out if you’re curious.

Anything New?

Last week, I went to a play called Ay, Carmela. It’s based on Spanish history, but the storyline was a bit complex. There were only two main characters and one side character, who appeared briefly to fire a blank gun—which startled me. I wish the ticket website had included a trigger warning. That said, I loved the lighting and overall aesthetics of the play.

On Saturday, I attended a Korean cultural night organized by the consulate general. Even though I’ve been here for four years, it was my first time attending a Korea-related event. I tried speaking Korean with the people around me, though I was a bit shy. Honestly, the main reason was that I couldn’t turn off the Spanish in my mind to switch to Korean!

November 18–24, 2024