Who translates made-up words from popular fiction into other languages?
When an author produces a popular fictional work (take Harry Potter) that's translated into many languages not native to the author, who decides how fictional words from that work are translated?
In the above example, I'm thinking specifically of words like "muggle", "quidditch", and "squib." Since J.K. Rowling presumably doesn't speak, say, Japanese, does she have a say in just how these words are translated into Japanese? Or would that simply be the job of the Japanese translators to create words at their own discretion based on what they know of the fictional words as Ms. Rowling used them in English?
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This is, indeed, the translator's job.
For example, here's Gili Bar-Hilel, talking about translating the Harry Potter books into Hebrew:
Fantasy books are often full of imaginary words created by the author and I am curious how you go about translating such words. Do you rewrite them in Hebrew, make up your own words to replace them, or use some other method?
GB: I play it by ear, depending on my understanding of the original. When an author is as playful and inventive as Rowling, I feel the translation should be playful and inventive as well, and I enjoy making up my own words. But sometimes invented words are just a brand name or something pseudo-scientific, and the Hebrew should follow that as well.
That being said, translators may be constrained by the translations of previous books in a series -- I've heard them complain about clumsy choices made by their predecessors...
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All aspects of translation, including the treatment of proper or made-up names, are the decision of the translator.[1]
Firstly, as you correctly stated, the author cannot be expected to know the target language and to be able to give any insights on the subject.[2]
Secondly, the treatment of names is only one of the many decisions that the translator must take. These decisions are a part of the general strategy that the translator chooses (for example, to what extent to adapt the text to the target culture, how to handle the cultural expectations of the target audience, and so on).
Granted, it can happen that a translator consults with the author or asks their opinion, but that is absolutely not a standard and depends on the translator's and author's position, the stance of the publishing house, and so on.
[1] An exception here are special conditions set up by the publishing house. For example, if a text belongs to an existing franchise (say, a Star Wars novel), the translator may be required by the publishing house to stick to an existing terminology.
[2] There are exceptions, of course. For example, J. R. R. Tolkien expressed his opinions about how proper names in his work should be translated in Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings. However, that was not binding for translators, and there are existing versions where the translator decided to ignore these suggestions. Of course, the case here is a rare one, as Tolkien was a linguist and constructed languages played an important role in his books.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/35523. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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