Working: Translator Damion Searls Explains Why His Job is More Creative Than Technical

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4.2 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2021

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week host Rumaan Alam talks to writer Damion Searls, who translates literature from German, French, Dutch, and Norwegian into English. In the interview, Damion argues that the work of translating is more creative than technical, and he breaks down what it means to preserve the best qualities of foreign works. After the interview, Rumaan and co-host June Thomas talk about their own experiences with literary translations. In the exclusive Slate Plus segment, Damion lists some of the works he’d like to translate in the near future. Send your questions about creativity and any other feedback to working@slate.com or give us a call at (304) 933-9675. Podcast production by Cameron Drews. If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on Working. Sign up now to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:58.6	Rated Peggy Free. When I was able to work in cafes, like sitting there with a laptop, I actually would sometimes say to be,
1:12.6	excuse me, do you mind if I ask you a question?
1:14.4	Yeah, pardon me, I'm a translator.
1:16.5	And it would always be something like,
1:19.1	okay, you now have someone ask you a question
1:21.4	and instead of saying, I don know you say, uh, so what is that called?
1:30.3	Welcome back to Working. I'm your host June Thomas. And I'm your other host,
1:35.0	Raman Alam. Raman. The voice we just heard belongs to Damien Searles,
1:41.0	who is a writer of both original works and translations, though today the focus
1:46.8	is on translating.
	...

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