Lost in Translation- Is Magic a Universal Language?
Theme:
PP3
What:
Discussion
When:
9:00 AM, Saturday 2 Aug 2014 EDT
(40 minutes)
Where:
Orange County Convention Center
- W102 B
Translating a book is never easy; translating Harry Potter is even worse. Made up words, alliterations, word play, and names with cultural and historical meanings - how do you translate them? Translators have to make choices, and different translators have made different choices. A German Harry Potter book is not the same as a Dutch one, or a Spanish one, and that does not even take non-European languages into consideration. Does the magic get lost in translation or is magic an universal language? Take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly. Do jokes fall flat? Does a name lose meaning or has the translator created a beautiful word that perfectly matches its English counterpart?