Sunday, October 14, 2007

Kundera on Translation

I finally read Milan Kundera's fascinating essay on the novel--The Curtain--and he makes the following comment on translation:

"... ever since Europe added rhyme to rhythm in its poetry, the full beauty of a verse can no longer be transplanted from one language into another; by contrast, faithful translation of a prose work, while difficult, is possible; in the world of novels there are no state borders."

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