“Ah, vieux fruit. I wish I’d thought of that one!”
October 30, 2018 10:15 AM Subscribe
But her 35 Asterix translations – culminating in Asterix and the Picts in 2013 – were only a fraction of an oeuvre that ran into several hundreds of titles, and she was appointed OBE for services to literature and literary translation in 2010. Though she was one of the rare translators to have become something of a celebrity in her own right, she was a firm subscriber to the old school belief that her profession should be read and not seen.Anthea Bell, prolific translator from French, German, and Danish, died on 18 October at age 82.
More remembrances:
Another from The Guardian
Financial Times
The Times
The Telegraph
The Washington Post
The New York Times
The New Republic
Translationista
The Grande Dame of Literary Translation: Anthea Bell at Eighty
A selection of Bell's translations at the Library of Congress
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- frimble
She was responsible for restoring the reputation of the early 20th-century Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, responding to a ferocious attack in the London Review of Books by the critic Michael Hofmann, who dismissed Zweig as “the Pepsi of literature”, by mildly remarking: “I don’t think that readability is a point to hold against a writer.”At which point Ms. Bell politely placed the microphone on the floor, so as not to do damage to perfectly good equipment.
posted by Etrigan at 10:28 AM on October 30, 2018 [21 favorites]
I'm sure that by professional standards, translations of some kids' bandes dessinées is not a huge deal, but to translate puns from one language to another in such a way as to make them seem effortlessly natural, well... it's magic. I don't know what else to call it.
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posted by GuyZero at 10:34 AM on October 30, 2018 [18 favorites]
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posted by GuyZero at 10:34 AM on October 30, 2018 [18 favorites]
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posted by one for the books at 10:41 AM on October 30, 2018
posted by one for the books at 10:41 AM on October 30, 2018
Oh, Anthea Bell! I really enjoyed her translation of The World of Yesterday. (Hofmann does good work, but he is a hyperpartisan of Joseph Roth, who was kind of an asshole to Zweig.)
I feel like there's at least one other translation of hers I've read recently, but can't think of what it is.
posted by praemunire at 10:41 AM on October 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
I feel like there's at least one other translation of hers I've read recently, but can't think of what it is.
posted by praemunire at 10:41 AM on October 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
Je suis médusé.
posted by cyanistes at 11:12 AM on October 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by cyanistes at 11:12 AM on October 30, 2018 [2 favorites]
The translation of Asterix' dog's name, "Idefix" - roughly, "fixed idea" in french -in the english translation was "dogmatix".
Which is basically perfect.
posted by mhoye at 11:18 AM on October 30, 2018 [27 favorites]
Which is basically perfect.
posted by mhoye at 11:18 AM on October 30, 2018 [27 favorites]
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posted by jim in austin at 11:41 AM on October 30, 2018
posted by jim in austin at 11:41 AM on October 30, 2018
I am a staunch defender of the superiority of Astérix names in English over French. There's an elevated level to the punnery in the English names -- the bard, who is notably terrible and winds up gagged at village feasts, is "Assurancetouristix" in French (Travellers' Insurance), but "Cacaphonix" in English.
The druid -- in French "Panoramix" -- is the supplier of the strength drug for the entire village, so in English, "Getafix".
And so on down the line: the chieftan is "Vitalstatistix," the smith is "Fulliautomatix" (son of "Semiautomatix"). It's a great example of translation as elevation.
posted by Shepherd at 11:42 AM on October 30, 2018 [21 favorites]
The druid -- in French "Panoramix" -- is the supplier of the strength drug for the entire village, so in English, "Getafix".
And so on down the line: the chieftan is "Vitalstatistix," the smith is "Fulliautomatix" (son of "Semiautomatix"). It's a great example of translation as elevation.
posted by Shepherd at 11:42 AM on October 30, 2018 [21 favorites]
My favourite was the Medusa gag (https://auntymuriel.com/2012/12/23/asterix-in-translation-the-genius-of-anthea-bell-and-derek-hockridge/)
And yes, anyone who can manage to translate puns and wordplay has my greatest respect.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 11:43 AM on October 30, 2018 [8 favorites]
And yes, anyone who can manage to translate puns and wordplay has my greatest respect.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 11:43 AM on October 30, 2018 [8 favorites]
She was also a deeply lovely person and very generous with her time for those with questions or who wanted her for an interview. It’s a big loss.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 11:53 AM on October 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by lesbiassparrow at 11:53 AM on October 30, 2018 [3 favorites]
The first obit for her that I saw referred to her in the lede as "translator of Asterix and Kafka," which made me think, "Asterix and Kafka would be an AMAZING story."
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:54 AM on October 30, 2018 [13 favorites]
posted by Saxon Kane at 11:54 AM on October 30, 2018 [13 favorites]
Asterix the Gaul, in English, was the first book I ever knew to be my "taste in literature". I remember being perhaps 5, maybe just coming on to 6, and revelling, in particular, in the fact that the fat, bearded, brigandish louts were the funny and affable heroes, while the prim and proper Romans were the cruel oppressors. I suppose it appealed to the anarchist in me, even then.
But probably more important was the first clear understanding I'd ever really had of "getting the joke", of understanding not just that something was funny, but also what made it funny. It was a giddily adult feeling, which carried me through every Asterix book available in English until I was in my mid-teens, the various Asterix gamebooks, and even an unplayable psuedo-beat-em-up Amiga 500 game; and then it took me on to the writers whose influence infuses Bell's Asterix, people like Wodehouse, Chesterton and Wilde.
I do not think it an exaggeration to say that my early infatuation with Bell's wordplay was fundamental in supporting and nurturing my tastes in literature and humour, and hence my character, throughout my life. For better or worse, much of what I am I owe to Bell. And yet I never really thought about her until today. I just knew that the translators were doing a bloody good job. I don't think I ever realised how bloody good until right now.
So, as I say,
*
posted by howfar at 11:58 AM on October 30, 2018 [11 favorites]
But probably more important was the first clear understanding I'd ever really had of "getting the joke", of understanding not just that something was funny, but also what made it funny. It was a giddily adult feeling, which carried me through every Asterix book available in English until I was in my mid-teens, the various Asterix gamebooks, and even an unplayable psuedo-beat-em-up Amiga 500 game; and then it took me on to the writers whose influence infuses Bell's Asterix, people like Wodehouse, Chesterton and Wilde.
I do not think it an exaggeration to say that my early infatuation with Bell's wordplay was fundamental in supporting and nurturing my tastes in literature and humour, and hence my character, throughout my life. For better or worse, much of what I am I owe to Bell. And yet I never really thought about her until today. I just knew that the translators were doing a bloody good job. I don't think I ever realised how bloody good until right now.
So, as I say,
*
posted by howfar at 11:58 AM on October 30, 2018 [11 favorites]
Désolé. French wordplay is damn hard to reflect in English. She was a true artist.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:11 PM on October 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:11 PM on October 30, 2018 [4 favorites]
I am a staunch defender of the superiority of Astérix names in English over French. There's an elevated level to the punnery in the English names -- the bard, who is notably terrible and winds up gagged at village feasts, is "Assurancetouristix" in French (Travellers' Insurance)...
I am afraid that this reflects not on Goscinny's level of French but rather your own. For one, his name is Assurancetourix, assurance tous risques, "full/comprehensive coverage" (insurance).
Panoramix' name is generally understood to refer to his panoramic knowledge – you can use "panorama" as "wide-ranging" in French, for instance panorama du savoir.
The chieftain's French name is Abraracourcix, à bras raccourcis, from a French expression that basically means to jump someone "with shortened arms" i.e. ready to punch.
The smith has essentially the same name in French, Cétautomatix, c'est automatique ("it's automatic/it's done straight away").
Goscinny is beloved for his puns; il vaut mieux s'assurer de bien comprendre le français avant de le critiquer.
No shade on Anthea Bell meant whatsoever – her translations are wonderful.
posted by fraula at 12:45 PM on October 30, 2018 [14 favorites]
I am afraid that this reflects not on Goscinny's level of French but rather your own. For one, his name is Assurancetourix, assurance tous risques, "full/comprehensive coverage" (insurance).
Panoramix' name is generally understood to refer to his panoramic knowledge – you can use "panorama" as "wide-ranging" in French, for instance panorama du savoir.
The chieftain's French name is Abraracourcix, à bras raccourcis, from a French expression that basically means to jump someone "with shortened arms" i.e. ready to punch.
The smith has essentially the same name in French, Cétautomatix, c'est automatique ("it's automatic/it's done straight away").
Goscinny is beloved for his puns; il vaut mieux s'assurer de bien comprendre le français avant de le critiquer.
No shade on Anthea Bell meant whatsoever – her translations are wonderful.
posted by fraula at 12:45 PM on October 30, 2018 [14 favorites]
Bell took to breeding and showing Birman cats, generations of which continued to rule her Cambridge home with a ferocious sense of entitlement long after their glory days were over.posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:45 PM on October 30, 2018
For one, his name is Assurancetourix, assurance tous risques, "full/comprehensive coverage" (insurance).
Is there some Gallic tradition of badly singing insurance salesmen that makes that a better character name for a bard than “Cacophonix”?
posted by Etrigan at 3:23 PM on October 30, 2018 [5 favorites]
Is there some Gallic tradition of badly singing insurance salesmen that makes that a better character name for a bard than “Cacophonix”?
posted by Etrigan at 3:23 PM on October 30, 2018 [5 favorites]
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Anthea was a star to the folks at Collins Dictionaries. The deepest collaborations between the English and Bilingual departments occurred when marvelling at her translated puns.
posted by scruss at 3:28 PM on October 30, 2018 [6 favorites]
Anthea was a star to the folks at Collins Dictionaries. The deepest collaborations between the English and Bilingual departments occurred when marvelling at her translated puns.
posted by scruss at 3:28 PM on October 30, 2018 [6 favorites]
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posted by Mister Bijou at 7:42 PM on October 30, 2018
posted by Mister Bijou at 7:42 PM on October 30, 2018
I had no idea that the translator of The life and opinions of the tomcat murr together with a fragmentary commentary of kapellmiester joahennes Kreisler on random sheets of waste paper is the same person who those bizarre Asterix tongue twisters.
posted by ovvl at 8:45 PM on October 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by ovvl at 8:45 PM on October 30, 2018 [1 favorite]
Goscinny is beloved for his puns
That's as may be. Unhygenix remains a better name for a fishmonger than Ordralfabétix, and calling his wife Bacteria instead of anything based on the admittedly quite nifty Iélosubmarine was just inspired.
posted by flabdablet at 6:41 AM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
That's as may be. Unhygenix remains a better name for a fishmonger than Ordralfabétix, and calling his wife Bacteria instead of anything based on the admittedly quite nifty Iélosubmarine was just inspired.
posted by flabdablet at 6:41 AM on October 31, 2018 [1 favorite]
Her Tomcat Murr translation is wonderful. That book is unlike anything else I've ever read, and her prose is so engaging and funny. (I didn't know about her own cats, but I am delighted.) She is really an inspiration.
And all of these articles have such lovely anecdotes!
And all of these articles have such lovely anecdotes!
Translation was an art form that sometimes led Ms. Bell into rabbit holes of historical research. For “Eva’s Cousin,” a novel by Sibylle Knauss based on memoirs by Hitler’s mistress Eva Braun, Ms. Bell described the “banks” of a lake where Braun and her cousin went swimming.
A copy editor changed the wording to “shore,” a more traditional description but one with little basis in fact, Ms. Bell found. Battling with the editor, she procured a picture that showed the lake was mostly surrounded by tall rocks. It could hardly be called a shore, and the language was reversed to follow Ms. Bell’s original translation. (Washington Post)
Ms. Bell mainly translated works written in German and French, but she once taught herself Danish over a single Christmas so that she could translate books from that language as well. (New York Times)posted by jeudi at 6:47 AM on October 31, 2018 [4 favorites]
It would be fun to see an annotated translation of Asterix with descriptions of how Bell interpreted some of Goscinny's virtually untranslatable puns. It goes without saying that when we read Asterix in English, there's some really weird quips replacing equally weird quips.
posted by ovvl at 4:00 PM on November 7, 2018
posted by ovvl at 4:00 PM on November 7, 2018
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