I got inspired by the latest Shardcast episode ”Language and Connection” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz40zJLAIFU) to make a post about discussing the similarities and differences of the translated works of the cosmere.
So, Brandon's works in general have been translated into multiple languages and some follow the originals almost to the letter while others take more freedom. The art of translating fiction is complicated and some translators see a lot of effort in localizing the original work so that no pun goes unappreciated, but some translators take the easy route too (by just translating, not localizing).
I'm sure there are more people like me who like to read their favorite books translated into their native language as well as the original versions (if the original is in a language I can read, such as English.) Also, I would love to hear from people who read the books in their native language and then joined the English speaking fandom, were there things that really surprised you? (other than all the different ways people pronounce characters' names #pronunciationcast https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AZHHBIKxUE)
I am speaking of things like what terminology has been translated and how (like spren, allomancy, etc) or have they been left as they are. Have names' spellings been modified to better fit the language? Are there things you wish were translated differently? Things you really appreciate the translator has done?
I can personally only compare the Finnish and English versions of Mistborn Era 1 since that is the only one translated into Finnish (by Mika Kivimäki) but here are some thoughts I've had while reading the trilogy:
Finnish language doesn't have a gendered 3. person pronoun like many other languages do, we only have one neutral ”hän” which is used for both he and she. This made it impossible to determine whether Kelsier was man or woman until page 17 when he is referred to as a ”young man”. (I had previously seen the UK version of WoA's cover art which has a woman in it so I wasn't sure whether Kelsier was a male or female name.)
The spikes in inquisitors' eyes and body are translated into ”naulat” (”nails” as in those you hammer into wood) rather than ”piikit” (lit. ”spikes”) since in Finnish ”piikki” refers to something small and wasn't ”brutal” enough I guess.
The title ”The Final Empire” was translated into ”Viimeinen valtakunta” where ”valtakunta” is usually referring to a kingdom, but here it actually works since the word ”valta” means ”power (over something)” or ”might” instead of a king. I believe it was chosen because ”imperiumi” (”empire”) is often associated with sci-fi (Star Wars, I'm looking at you) or the Roman empire. Well of Ascension was translated quite literally which surprised me since the word ”yleneminen” (”ascension”) isn't really used in Finnish language that much, I was happy to see it wasn't changed. Hero of Ages was translated into ”Ajan sankari” (”Hero of Time”) since the word for ”age/era” is ”aikakausi” and that would've sounded very awkward as a title.
I've noticed that Brandon rarely uses (our world's) curse words in his writing, but in the Finnish HoA Cett actually says ”paskahatut” (lit. ”shit hats”) instead of ”bastards” as the original goes. This is mainly because Elend tells him to stop swearing right after, and in Finnish language ”äpärä” (”bastard”) is not really considered a swear word (rude, sure, but not swearing) and in general ”bastard” is translated into ”roisto” (”crook” or ”scoundrel”, theme of thieving) which is not a swear word at all.
I really like the Finnish translations for misting names, and when I moved on to Era 2 I was surprised that Thugs were now called ”Pewterarms”. In Finnish they are all just ”korsto” thorough the trilogy.Ruin is translated into ”Tuho” (”Destruction”) which I think was the only possible way of translating it even though ”Tuho” is more like demolishing kind of destruction whereas Ruin is more of decaying kind of destruction (or this is how I interpret it, correct me if I'm wrong).Allomancy is not translated in the Finnish version but it is made to fit the language by changing its spelling (allomancy → ”allomantia”, allomancer → ”allomantikko”) and because of this it took me a good while to realize it was referring to metal alloys. I'm still happy it wasn't translated since an alloy in Finnish is just ”metalliseos” (lit. ”metal mix”) which wouldn't sound cool as a magic system. Allomantia sounds much more highfantasy to me:D Though I do wonder how they'd translate ”Alloy of Law” if they decide to keep translating the series... (which I really hope they do since Wayne would work so well in Finnish, though accents would need to be translated into dialects since Finnish doesn't really have accents, but we do have 20+ official dialects).
Anyway, this post is really long and I want to hear other languages' points of views too so I'll stop here ^for ^now.
edit: fixing the links and spelling
Submitted June 24, 2019 at 03:13PM by Messydesk_A http://bit.ly/2RufzAo
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