Swansea University Archives Blog

As part of my placement at the Richard Burton Archives, part of my work included translating material from the Centre for Contemporary German Culture (CCGC) collection, from German to English. In this blog, I therefore wish to explore what translators have to consider.

While converting German content into English, some terms proved more difficult to translate than others. The thought arose to provide a glimpse into some of the ideas considered in Translation Theory, by briefly discussing an annotated translation. Interesting to note is that the visitors invited to Swansea University were not only German writers and scholars but also translators, such as Kevin A. Perryman in 1997 and Inge Leipold in 1999.

In October 2013, while Jörg Bernig stayed at Swansea University as Writer in Residence, poetry translation workshops and readings were held, focusing on Bernig’s poems. Following his visit, a selection of his poems Flower Angel Ship was published by Hafan Books. It includes translations by members of the workshops, and also translations by Tom Cheesman, Professor Emeritus at Swansea University and who was heavily involved with the CCGC. In the notes section of Flower Angel Ship, the following information is included: “All the translations of the poems benefited greatly from the lively discussions and creative ideas of participants in a translation workshop held at Swansea University in October 2013” (p. 58).

Cover of Richard Humphrey’s Aufbaukurs Ubersetzen Deutch-Englisch, and cover of Theodore Savory’s The Art of Translation.

By converting various texts from one language into another, translators make these texts available to wider audiences, and often creative thinking is essential. However, as no translation is a perfect copy of the original, there are always several elements to consider:

Firstly, there is the idea of ‘Equivalence’. The target text, as in the text a translator is producing in the target language, must be equivalent to the original, or source text, to be considered a translation thereof. Yet, there are several forms of Equivalence. Richard Humphrey in his book Aufbaukurs Übersetzen Deutsch-Englisch (Klett Lerntraining GmbH, 2010) notes the three following types as “perhaps the most useful terms” (p. 63):

• Referential equivalence: two words/phrases refer to the same object in the real world – ‘Herzschrittmacher’ and ‘heart pace-maker’.
• Connotative equivalence: two words evoke similar associations in the reader – ‘Tohuwabohu’ and ‘hullabaloo’, perhaps.
• Text-normative equivalence: two words/phrases occur in similar contexts – ‘Mit freundlichen Grüßen’ and ‘Yours sincerely/faithfully’. (p. 63)

However, as “Every language creates its own world of ideas, with its own oceans of associations and its own firmament of feelings” (Humphrey, p. 63) true equivalence is often hard to achieve. Theodore Savory (1959), in his book The Art of Translation, suggests that “the translator’s work may be analysed into the answering of three questions. Faced with a passage in its original language, he must ask himself: (i) What does the author say? (ii) What does he mean? (iii) How does he say it?” (p. 25)

Keeping the different types of Equivalence, as described by Humphrey, and Savory’s three questions in mind, I will now examine the first stanza of Kerstin Hensel’s poem “Worms Head”, which she wrote during her time as Writer in Residence at Swansea University in 2000 after visiting the Worm’s Head headland in Rhossili, Swansea. The first stanza is relatively short, but brilliantly written, and provides interesting examples which highlight the difficulties of translation work.

Worms Head by Kerstin Hensel

I

Auf den walisischen Klippen den

Klüften

Der

Krachenden See, Kopfgischt und

Stichhaltige Sonne und Weide und Heide, das Ginsterschaf

Dornenfett hält sich am Leben.

Ebbe in allen Kanälen

Im Drachenkopf

Wir

From: Kerstin Hensel. Linklater, B., & Dahlke, Birgit. (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2002), p. 5.

This is the first stanza of Hensel’s poem, and the initial point to note is the unique position of the first three lines, perhaps visualising the cliffs she describes. When attempting to translate poetry, as opposed to factual texts, additional elements come into play. Not only is the content important to consider, but also aspects such as rhythm, form, and the use of poetic devices.

The first verse could be translated as follows:

(Translation by S. Roesner)

Noteworthy in this verse is the German term “Stichhaltige Sonne” (Hensel, p.5), which can be translated as Stinging sun, however, the German “Stichhaltig” is closer to the English terms valid, sound, verified or something substantial. Hensel’s described sun might be stinging, but it is also a sun with a valid and substantial presence.

Following this, the German “Weide und Heide” (Hensel p.5) constitutes a perfect rhyme, whereas the translation willow and heather does not. The words are equivalent in meaning, but not in form.

Subsequently, we have the compound word “Ginsterschaf” (Hensel, p.5), the literal translation is “gorse-sheep”, a sheep which perhaps feeds on gorse, or has a gorse-like quality to it. The sheep is also described by the compound word “Dornenfett” (Hensel, p.5), in the next line, the literal translation is “thorn-fat”, but is it fat with thorns, or fat like thorns? Both German compounds have no direct equivalent in English and thereby leave room for creative choices.

The next line “Ebbe in allen Kanälen” (Hensel, p.5), can be translated to Low tide in all channels. Here it is interesting to note, that both the English word channels and as the German word “Kanäle” can refer to waterways and television channels at the same time. Yet, the German word “Ebbe” can also mean not just low tide, but also the absence of something. “Ebbe im Geldbeutel” would be the absence of money in your purse. So, perhaps Hensel is not just describing the low tide in all waterways, but also the absence of (good?) content on TV. Here, thinking back to Savory’s three questions, we can read what the author says, and how she says it, but regarding the second question we might keep contemplating about the various meanings of her words.

Lastly, In the dragon’s head We is a literal translation of Hensel’s “Im Drachenkopf Wir” (p.5), but the term “Drachenkopf” does not only refer to the mystical creature. In fact, it can refer to a plant also known in English as Moldavian lemon balm or Dracocephalum moldavica in Latin. If lemon balm can be found on the Welsh cliffs, it might be a more sensible translation than dragon’s head. And we might picture Hensel with her friend on the cliffs surrounded by lemon balm. But then again, the ambivalence is also charming, as the setting of the poem is a country that displays a dragon on its flag. So, figuratively speaking, they are indeed “Im Drachenkopf”.

If you’re interested in listening to Kerstin Hensel reading out her full poem, a video of her reading can be found here.
The video was initially recorded for the exhibition “Poets by the Sea” in 2020 and Kerstin Hensel also talks about her visit to Swansea as part of the Visiting Writers Programme. The full poem is also available in the monograph on Kerstin Hensel, which was published as part of the Contemporary German Writers series and can be found at Swansea University’s Singleton Library.

Susanne Roesner
PhD Creative Writing
Richard Burton Archives SPIN placement, January 2024

Works Cited:

Bernig, J. (2013). Angel Flower Ship. (T. Cheesman, Ed.). Hafan Books
Humphrey, R. (2010). Aufbaukurs Übersetzen Deutsch-Englisch. Klett
Linklater, B., & Dahkle, B. (Eds.). (2002). Kerstin Hensel. University of Wales Press
Savory, T. (1959). The Art of Translation. Aldren Press.