Exploring the idea that “translation can be seen as a process that, when used literally, can provide unexpected and compositionally interesting outcomes” — using translation as a generator. I used the Google Translator to do the translation.
I tried a couple of sessions with the translator and the following two examples are the funniest I produced.
When I lived in Texas many years ago, I could sometimes tune into a radio station from Mexico. At night, it played rock music in English. I heard “Hotel California” for the first time on that station. I always laughed when the DJ announced the songs, because he did it in “Tex-Mex” (or Spanglish as it is called here on the East Coast)…
“La voz de GunsandRoses”…
“La presencia de ACDC”…
The reason I mention this in the context of the above assignment is that during the day, the radio station played English-language pop music in Spanish. At the time, you could hear songs like “End of the Road” by Boys II Men, sung as “Vamos al fin de camino” (or something like that… it has been a really long time. A couple of weeks ago I heard a Beatles song sung in Spanish or Portuguese playing in the ITP lounge. It seems to me now that doing those translations well is probably a tricky operation.
So… this first attempt at the translation assignment involves part of a song that I first heard on the Reservoir Dogs soundtrack.
Stuck in the Middle with You
(Stealers Wheel)
English: Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right
I am stuck in the middle with you.
Spanish: Payasos a la izquierda de mí, bromistas a la derecha
Me pegan en el centro con ti.
English: Clowns to the left of me, joking to the right
They beat to me in center with you.
Spanish: Payasos a la izquierda de mí, bromeando a la derecha
Batieron a mí en el centro con ti.
English: Clowns to the left of me, joking to the right
They beat in center to me with you.
German: Clowne auf der linken Seite ich, scherzend rechts
Sie schlugen in der Mitte zu mir mit dir.
English: Clowne on the left side I, joking right
They struck in the center to me with you.
German:
Clowne auf der linken Seite I, nach rechts scherzend
Sie schlugen in der Mitte zu mir mit dir an.
French:
Clowne page gauche I, vers la droite plaisantant
Ils ont attaché dans le milieu à moi avec te.
English:
Clowne left page I, towards the line joking
They attached in the medium to me with you.
Spanish:
Clowne dejó la página I, hacia la línea el bromear
Unieron en el medio a mí con ti.
English:
Clowne left page I, towards the line joking
They united in means to me with you.
German:
Clowne ließ Seite I, in Richtung zur Linie Scherzen
Sie vereinigten in den Mitteln zu mir mit dir.
French:
Le Clowne a laissé la page I, en direction à la ligne à des plaisanteries
Ils ont uni dans les moyens à moi avec te.
English:
Clowne left page I, in direction with the line with jokes
They linked in the means with me with you.
Perhaps you’ve encountered an instruction manual that didn’t quite read properly in English? Some of the phrases are pretty funny. I found an example in the manual of my Fostex Digital Multitracker VF-16.
Before Operating the Fostex Digital Multitracker VF-16
(originally written in Japanese)
Please read the overview before going any farther with your new recorder as it will save you a lot of time in the long run.
Spanish: Leer por favor la descripción antes de ir más lejos con tu registrador nuevo pues te ahorrará mucho tiempo a largo plazo.
English: To please read the description before going more far with your new recorder because it will save long time in the long term to you.
Spanish: Para satisfacer leer la descripción antes de ir más lejos con tu registrador nuevo porque ahorrará de largo plazo al largo plazo a ti.
English: In order to satisfy to read the description before going more far with your new recorder because it will save of long term to the long term you.
Italian: Per per soddisfare per leggere la descrizione prima di andare più lontano con il vostro nuovo registratore perché li conserverà del lungo termine al lungo termine.
English: For in order satisfying in order to read the description before going more far away with your new recorder because it will conserve them of along term to along term.
Italian: Per in ordine che soddisfa per leggere la descrizione prima di andare più faraway con il vostro nuovo registratore perché li conserverà lungo del termine lungo al termine.
English: For in order that satisfies in order to read the description before going more faraway with your new recorder because it will conserve them along of the long term to the term.
Spanish: Para para que satisfaga para leer la descripción antes de ir más lejano con tu registrador nuevo porque los conservará adelante del largo plazo al término.
English: For so that it satisfies to read the description before going furthermost with your new recorder because it will conserve them in front of the long term to the term.