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Musebox: Beware the Literal Translator

Beware the Literal Translator

I sat today, watching a PBS documentary on the late Lalo Guerrero. His song Barrio Viejo [wma] touched the strings of my heart with its poetry.

The chorus begins with

Viejo Barrio
Barrio Viejo

Which translated literally is simply

Neighborhood Old
Old Neighborhood

But a more accurate translation, based on the nuances of his tone, usage and sentiment would be

Old Neighborhood
My Old Neighborhood (which I love)

That is why viejo means old or old man but used by an affectionate child to his father really expresses my old man whom I love.

Which brings me to my warning to beware the literal translator.

Who is the literal translator? He is that person who understands the letter of the law but not its spirit. The man whose knowledge promotes superiority rather than wisdom. The public servant who serves himself. The teacher who diminishes the student. The citizen who loves freedom but denies it for others.

The literal translator understands the words but loses the meaning by removing the contextual bindings of sentiment and feeling that give those words life. Without that, what do we have but a wall of bricks without mortar.