THE TURKISH PERSPECTIVE

Speech delivered by Emirhan Basiyurt

I want to convey some of my thoughts on translating poetry and illustrate how I translated Amarjit's poem. When I looked at the program for this conference I noticed that it states -- Punjabi poems translated into English, Greek and Turkish. I would like to say I did not translate a Punjabi poem, I am not fluent in Punjabi! I did an English translation of a poem written in Punjabi. I am sure if we found a Turkish/Punjabi translator his version may differ in some respects. I deliberately did not discuss the 'meaning' of the poem with Amarjit. I believe if I had engaged in such a discussion the translation process would have been affected. It may make translation difficult, or even impossible. I wanted to maintain a literal translation. I simply wanted to reflect the message of the poem. The word message from the word meaning needs to be distinguished. When translating it is important to understand the message. However, I do not believe it is for me to interpret the writer's views. I must translate his words. In other words I must refrain from interpreting a meaning and concentrate upon translating the message literal translation can in some respects lose the content of the poem. However, I always believe that translated poems in any event do not give the same pleasure to the readers as does the original form.

When Amarjit asked me to translate this particular poem, I was hesitant as to whether it could be translated in the short period of time that I had. It haunted me for many days before I eventually came up with a final version. I knew the poem needed to be translated into 'Turkish words' but I also had to maintain a poetic sound. As well as this I always had in mind the poem's message. The difficulty lies in attempting to convey the message without interpreting it. For to interpret it may significantly alter the meaning. I appreciate that this may not always be possible but this is the important difference between interpreting and translating. The order of the poem is slightly varied in Turkish, partly as a consequence of Turkish grammar but mainly as a result of wanting (or rather needing) to maintain a poetic sound. The first two lines of the poem are reversed and read as follows:

Eyes cannot see hands cannot touch
a stone lies Distant far a planet

This reversal is mainly due to the need to maintain a poetic flow, a poetic rhythm, a poetic sound etc. This adds another element to the translating process. The translator in a sense becomes a poet. I have translated many court documents and during this process it was imperative that I used legal terminology. Similarly when translating poetry you must consider poetic terminology.Thus, I chose not to use the literal words for unseen and untouched. The literal words sound misplaced in this poem. Similarly I chose not to maintain the dual use of the word far as this would have simplified the poem and portrayed a childlike sound. Using the same mode of thought the following two lines are also reversed:

No odour no colour
one flower is dreamed

The use of the word stone is omitted here, as it is not necessary to repeat which object is being referred to. To do so would also simplify the poem. The last three lines of the poem maintain the same structure as the original form:

Eye dazzling glow has on
only closed eyes see that
loved ones we see like

The only marked difference here is the use of the word eye before the words dazzling glow. It is necessary to include this because otherwise the line would convey no coherent meaning. By translating in this literal manner I believe I have left it for the reader to interpret the message and give a meaning to it. Had I myself tried to interpret the message perhaps I would have significantly altered the meaning. This is the greatest danger involved in translation. Here are English glosses of the Turkish version.

....
O Mortals, I that stone dream like beautiful -- Baudelaire
Eyes cannot see hands cannot touch a stone lies
Distant far a planet
No odour no colour one floweris dreamed
Eye dazzling glow has on
Only closed see that Loved ones we see like

and the Turkish version itself:

...
Ey faniler, ben o ruyasi kadar guzelim -- Baudelaire
Gozgormez eldegmez bir tas yatar
Mesafesi uzak bir gezegende
Kokusuz renksiz bir cicegin
Ruyasini gorur.
Goz kamastirici parlakigi vardir ustunde.
Yalniz kapali gozler onu
Sevdiklerimizi gordugumuz gibi.

THE GREEK PERSPECTIVE

Speech delivered by Andreas Pitsillides

This untitled poem by Amarjit Chandan evokes mixed feelings of sorrow and happiness. It is a short poem, yet these laconic rhymes express a deep in sight which became a challenge to me when I tried to translate it into Modern Greek. The difficulty lies in finding the right use of words to impart to it the nearest possible meaning.At first I used the word "vriskome" for the English word "to lie". I then decided to change it. I looked at it through a different perspective and decided to use the ancient Greek word "kimme" in order to add to it a distinctive colour, thereby imparting to it a touch of coldness.

The official language of Greece from about the middle of the 19th century up to 1980's was Katharevousa i.e. Refined Greek which was an imitation of Ancient Greek. Ancient Greek words are still used in Modern Greek. There are synonyms to every word. I have tried to use not only the right meaning but also to attach to it the 'right' sound. The sound of words express a more profound insight. For the English word stone" which plays an important part in the poem. I wanted at first to use the Greek word "tafopetra", in English a "gravestone". I opted for the word "plaka" which literally means "stone, slab, plaque", but can also be used as "gravestone" thereby omitting the word "tafos" which means "grave". The word "tafpopetra" sounds too sombre. These are but a few examples in the translating process. Amarjit explained to me that by using the word "stone", he simply meant an ordinary stone. On reading the quotation by Baudelaire "O mortals, I'm beautiful like the dream of stone", I immediately saw in front of me dead people hovering above the cemetery.

English-Greek dictionaries are sometimes not very helpful. Equivalent English words are not always given; sometimes not at all. I therefore have to make my own personal dictionary, searching for all possible words by looking through Greek dictionaries, the Greek Thesaurus and the Dictionary of Synonyms and Related Words.I have discussed the poem with the poet Amarjit and explained to him of my own impression. In order to get to the nearest meaning of a poem, it would require the collaboration of the translator with the poet if (s)he is available.

There will always exist a disagreement between the translator and the poet especially if they come from different cultures. What I see, is what I see. The message of the poem is in my view the realisation of beauty of which we can only see through the eyes of our soul.I was asked by Amarjit to give a literal transcription of the poem. When English words are translated into another language it could give a strange reading. In Greek it has not given this impression with this poem. The word for word translation of the poem still makes sense because Greek is an extremely elastic language. I can use a sentence in Greek made up of twenty words for example, and can write twenty different sentences by twisting around the same words. The sentence would still make sense; it would only change the emphasis.

The more I think of this poem the more I find new meanings. It's that kind of poem that looks simple on the surface, but when you look at it through all the perspectives you will find out that there is no end. It goes on and on.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In the conference Chandan used a new term "mother script" (ma-lippi) which he had coined himself. It was picked up by all the participants proving that it makes sense linguistically.