Found in Translation

August 27, 2012
In the introduction to this sympathetic appreciation of translators and their work, Kelly and Zetzsche boldly state that: "Translation affects every aspect of your life." Through anecdotes grouped into seven chapters, they demonstrate the crucial role that translation plays in health care, politics, business, religion, sports, technology, and even affairs of the heart. Though translators may not be the unsung heroes that the authors (translators themselves) frequently make them out to be, the stories collected here show how important their services are in a wide variety of applicationsâfrom care of non-English-speaking patients in American hospitals to the accumulation of epidemiologic data from parochial communities across the globe, the translating of poetry ("like trying to play a piano sonata on a trombone"), and the correct interpretation of world leaders' statements that can have huge ramifications. The authors demonstrate the importance of understanding a culture as well as language in their accounts of simultaneous translation and attempts to preserve meaning when translations are themselves translated. Though serious in their objective, Kelly and Zetsche approach their topic with a wit that particularly comes through in accounts of translators' gaffes. Agent: Scott Mendel, Mendel Media Group.