A Cultural Transformational Translation

(Click here for the vlog)
Sooner or later, every teacher should give their students a primary source. They offer a glimpse into the culture of a place, in the voice of the people who live there, and provide a perspective that students would otherwise have access to. For example, for the past few years I've been enjoying a series of articles on Mental Floss about the battles of WWI (http://mentalfloss.com/article/86941/wwi-centennial-tide-turns-against-romania). Believe it or not, we've reached the centennial of, "the war to end all wars." The way that history is taught in most classes, wars seem to have an inevitable conclusion. Either this sense comes from the fact that many people already know these stories--and, indeed, we are all here to tell them--or an idea that, due to factors early on in the war, we can deduce that one side was simply destined to win. I could go on at length about this problem, but I think that's a post for another time. Back to my original point: the mental floss articles include telegrams, diary entries, and letters from those who were experiencing these events first hand. Within those letters, we see a different narrative than what is presented in most history classes: one of terror, uncertainty, and a sense of being beaten down. In this way, primary sources add life to a classroom, and help challenge some of the fundamental views we take about historic events.
But, primary sources don't just have to be about history. By reading newspapers and speeches from foreign countries (or watching translated/ subtitled videos), we get a sense of what those cultures value. However, there's a slight wrinkle in the proceedings...

"Oh yay," you might say, "he's finally stopped monologueing and is getting into the good stuff." Pishaw, good reader. The stuff above is perfectly good too, if a little dry. But, if our news is anything like life, then we as a society much prefer to look at the negative (evidence: http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-30318261).

See, translations will never be perfect, regardless of what they're talking about. Let's take, for example, these two texts:

a) A news article about the peace process between the Columbian government and FARC:
"Hace décadas, una bomba del IRA (Ejército Republicano Irlandés) colocada en un cubo de basura en el centro de Londres arrojó al suelo a un joven colombiano que trabajaba para la Federación del Café." (http://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-37506432)

b) The first stanza of, Versos Sencillos, a poem by an early Cuban revolutionary, Jose Marti.
Yo soy un hombre sincero
de donde crece la palma,
y antes de morirme quiero
echar mis versos del alma.

Now, let's try translating word for word, with no change for meaning:
a) It does decades, a bomb of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) placed in a cube of garbage in the center of London threw into the air a young Colombian who worked for the Federation of the Coffee.

b) I am a man sincere
where grows the palm tree,
y before I'm dead I want
to throw the verses of my soul.

So, while both of them are understandable, they leave a lot to be desired. Let's try that again, this time with being a bit less exact:

a) Decades ago, a young Columbian--working for the Coffee Federation in the center of London--was thrown into the air by a bomb planted in a garbage can by the IRA.

b) I am an honest man
from where the palm trees grow,
and before I die, I want to write
these precious words of my soul.

I think that we can all agree, much better. So, I changed some word, moved them around, and got the general gist. What does any of this really have to do with class? Well, first off, let's take a look at the first words of the news story, 'a'. (For more discussion about the poem--and translations in general--please see this video.)

1a) Decades ago...
1b) It was only a few decades ago...
1c) Time: Decades in the past.
1d) It seemed a day like any other, mere decades ago,
1e) When moments seem to last years, a couple decades can seem a lifetime.

Each of these five sentences/ phrases gives the same general gist: we're not talking about now, we're talking about something that happened a while ago. But, here's the thing: each option gives a slightly different feeling. 1c sounds very clinical, while 1d gives a slight feeling of trepidation. For an article about a peace process (which, I have just found out, failed the plebiscite: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-37537252), the tone can convey everything. A more sinister start can make the deal seem treacherous, while a more upbeat tone transforms it into the greatest thing since sliced bread.

The fact of the matter is, most Social Studies teachers are trying to form some sort of narrative for the whole year, and the materials that we choose to provide affect how that material is received. The tones that teachers choose to use in their texts--and there is usually more than one translation option--affect how the class views the events. Moreover, using a variety of materials, with a variety of view points, can really help flesh out a boring lesson. Just don't go too far...

Teacher: Hey everyone, today we're going to learn about the Code of Hammurabi!
Class: Groan!
Student 1: But we already read about that!
Teacher: Well today we're going to watch a video about a culture that still uses it.
Student 2: Really?
Student 3: Wow, they weren't kidding when they said an eye for an eye.
Student 4: Look at the blood fly!
Student 1: We should do this in class!
Teacher: Classroom-material integration! (TEACHER gives thumbs up).

Uh, no.