LTMO 144D - Paper #1

Darlene McCoy
Bruce Thompson
LTMO 144D
24 April 2011
Translation - Take It Seriously!
    Motl, Peysi the Cantor's Son, is a novel by Jewish author and playwright Sholem Aleichem. The novel, Aleichem's last, remains unfinished due to his death. Aleichem wrote the entire novel in Yiddish, so many a translator translated it into English to allow English-speakers to enjoy the adventures of a mischievous little hellion. The most recent version, translated in 2009, is by Aliza Shevrin. Another, translated in 1953 is by Tamara Kahana. With translation comes discrepancies in many forms, and the two recent translations of the novel are no exception. These slight discrepancies, no matter how trivial they seem, change the reader's experience in reading the novel.
    A glance at the two novel's covers implies that the novels will not read in the same fashion. Shevrin's translation's title is, Motl, the Cantor's Son, while Kahana's is Adventues of Mottel, the Cantor's Son. Another difference between the two is the spelling of Sholem Aleichem's name. Shevrin spells it Sholem Aleichem, and Kahana spells it Sholom Aleichem. While the different spellings and titles are small discrepancies, they are still present and may change the reading experience for a reader. The difference in the titles changes the reader's first impressions of the novel. Kahana's addition of the word "adventures" to the title of the novel gives the reader more of an idea about what the novel is about. "Adventures" is also quite the exciting word, and implies that the tale is either joyous, courageous, or amusing. Shevrin's translation lacks the word "adventures" so the reader cannot imply anything but that there is a person named Motl, and he is the son of a cantor. The most apparent difference between the two covers is that of the image on the front. Shevrin's translation of Motl is bundled with her translation of Tevye the Dairyman, and the cover's image is that of a fiddler on a roof. An illustration of Mottel, surrounded by animals, structures, and other people adorns the cover of Kahana's translation. Because the image on Shevrin's translation is not of Motl, the reader can imply nothing about him or the novel from it. On the other hand, the reader can imply many things about Mottel from Kahana's translation's cover. Mottel is the center of the illustration, and the other things illustrated seem to revolve around him. Mottel wears a cheerful smile on his face, yet the two people behind him seem to wear expressions brought on only by endless labor. Mottel is shaded in a way that makes him seem light, and not filled with grief. The other two people are almost pure black; they seem to be overpowered by the color, overpowered by their grief. The illustration thus implies that Mottel is a cheerful young boy who has not yet grown enough to know more than his own personal world, and he is not bogged down by daily life as many others around him are. The differences in the two covers change how much knowledge the reader has prior to starting the novel, thus changing the reader's experience.
    The text itself features many examples of different translations creating different reading experiences. The beginning of the chapter, "A Sea of Tears," differs. In Shevrin's translation, Motl's mother cries for the people around her who are suffering. His brother then responds to her tears, telling her, "You sin, Mama!" Motl agrees with his brother, because he feels that their mother has nothing to cry about. They have made it across the ocean, and are in America. He does however, emphasize with his mother, thinking, "But how can a person not cry when surrounding him is so much misfortune, so many reasons for tears, for a sea of tears?" Through this scene, the reader learns more of how Motl thinks. It develops his character as a thoughtful, understanding, boy. It also further emphasizes just how much Motl's mother cries. This scene sets the stage for Motl's description of all the misfortune around him and how much if affects everyone on Ellis Island - but it is not present in Kahana's translation. The reader does not get the small depiction of the characters of the novel that Shevrin's translation provides, and thus, their reading experience is changed.
    The simple changing of a name in this novel can create quite the different reading experience. In Shevrin's translation, there is a small girl aboard the same ship as Motl's family who is called Ketzele due to her overwhemingly cute qualities. To the unknowing mind, Ketzele is simply a name, and is something looked over, it is not alarming in the least. In actuality, Ketzele is Yiddish for "kitten," which goes well with Motl's description of her, which otherwise, gives no inclination that the child is kitten-like. In Kahana's translation, the girl is called Pussy. In America, "pussy" is a widely known slang term for female genitalia. Therefore, an American reading Kahana's translation may find the fact that a child of three goes by the name of "Pussy" quite disturbing.  The other other implication of the word "pussy" American-English is just simply a synonym for "cat." Mottel tells of the girl as such: "She is such a darling that everyone calls her Pussy. Pussy is not quite three years old, but she already runs around, talks, sings, and dances." There is no implication that she is cat-like, just a small, sweet child, which may lead the reader to think, "Are the sailors playing a trick on the poor Jews who are unaware of American slang? What is going on here?!" That thought process can interrupt the flow of the novel, and it most definitely can change the reader's experience. The definite meaning of the name Pussy is lost in translation and causes some rather alarming confusion!
    Descriptions of the city differ in each translation. When riding on the ferry into the city, in Shevrin's translation, Motl notes that, "We see an enormously huge iron statue of a woman. She looks like a giant mother," but in Kahana's translation the Statue of Liberty is described as, "There we were looking at a tall, huge iron statue, standing in the distance, made in the shape of a woman who is holding up a torch." Kahahna's version of the description of the Statue of Liberty does not contain the word "mother." The Statue of Liberty was quite the important symbol for immigrants entering America through New York's harbor. Many looked upon her as the mother of all those lost, forgotten and without hope. Through the simple word "mother" Shevrin's translation evokes these emotions and direct feelings. Thus, due to an emotional response, the reader's experience is changed by a very slight difference.
    New York's skyline comes fast upon Motl's family aboard the ferry. It, too, is described in a different way in each translation. In Shevrin's version, Motl describes the city: "Ach! What tall buildings! They are cathedrals, not buildings! And windows! A thousand windows!" In Kahana's, he states: "Oh what a city, what enormous tall houses! They aren't houses -- they are towers which stretch their hands up into the sky. And how many windows! Millions of windows..." The main difference in these two phrases is the noun Motl uses to describe the buildings in the city. The word "cathedral" implies the concept of a religious safe-haven, a place where all is good and holy. The word "towers" is more associated with giant, spiral skinny structures that pierce the sky. Thus, the difference in words creates different meanings out of what seems to be the same sentence. Each work evokes a different connotation.
    The vernacular in the translations is different. Shevrin's translation uses Jewish phrases such as "mazel tov" and "oy vey." Kahana's version uses "congratulations" instead of "mazel tov" in her translation, and the phrase "oy vey" is not found in her version at all. Shevrin's use of Jewish vernacular connects the reader to the Jewish culture found in the novel by using actual Jewish phrases. Kahana's version lacks the more foreign words, and may appeal to a different audience more because the language of the novel is less foreign, and therefore less difficult to internalize. Either way - the lack of Jewish phrases may change the reader's experience as well.
    A simple sentence can change how a paragraph reads. In Shevrin's translation, a family friend, Pinni, says that, "May the czar suffer as long as it will take for them to get rid of us!" in regards to the threat of being deported due to Motl's mother being too loud for America. Pinney, in Kahana's version, says "The Czar's beard will grow down to his toes before we move from here." One version is much more dark than the other. Shevrin's version seems to be much more spiteful, more dripping with hatred for the old country. Kahana's version makes Pinney's response seem more of a joke, more of something silly to be laughed at, which makes for a lighter mood. Both are used to further develop Pinney/Pinni's character, but each does so in a different way. The different portrayal of a singular character can make for a different reading experience.
    Different translations create different reading experiences. Even if the experience is slight in difference, different reading experiences create different interpretations of a novel. Different interpretations of a novel can affect people in a multitude of ways, sometimes making them take actions they might not have without reading a text. For example: the Bible has been considered the most read book of all time. It was originally translated from Greek and Hebrew manuscripts by an immense number of different translators. Many different people read the Bible, and took their own interpretations from its pages. Because people believed in their own interpretations, branches of religion formed from one book. If stripped down to its bare bones, religion is a form of culture; a set of practices, values, and works shared by a society.  Countless numbers of people gave their lives for their belief in their interpretation of the Bible, their culture. Though Motl, the Cantor's Son will more than likely not influence history perhaps as much as the Bible did, it is important to note the differences in the translations, because Motl will influence someone, somewhere, at some point in time. It is a novel that is a very prominent figure in Jewish literature, and will continue to influence the culture associated with Jewish literature for quite some time. With each new translation, the novel will change in ever so slight ways that may end up changing how a person feels about it, which may change culture, which may cause someone to do or think in a certain way. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to small differences in translations of novels such as this one, because small differences can make for small changes, but a multitude of small changes over time can cause a giant move in an aspect of life and culture.