Hello, Michael!
Let's try to make this conversation as simple as possible - I won't send all the questions at once, because I don't think it's worth it - it destroys the whole organic nature of the conversation. So I will just ask them right here.
...I'm most interested in yours, as translator, experience. The fact that you are vegan - extra good, I'll ask about that too.
As far as I've seen, recently from English to Lithuanian you have translated the film "The Last Piglet". Have you been translating such works for a long time? Did you have special training as a translator, or did you just use a well-honed spoken language when translating?
I'm I'm not a professional translator, although I'm not really a native English speaker. It's just that when you're involved in a non-profit organisation (I belong to "Empty Cages"), which is based on volunteer work, involves a wide range of jobs, often learning by doing.
My work with the organisation started with organising events, and we also like to organise film screenings.
Translation is not an easy or enjoyable job, and often people only realise this when they start translating themselves.
Although we understand perfectly well what was meant in English, it is not always possible to convey the idea in Lithuanian. So, in order not to overload one person, we split up and do the work in several groups. In this way, I have been involved in the translation of almost all the films we have shown. This time it was just the two of us - me and Saulė Milaševičiūtė.
I didn't learn to translate specifically, I just try to convey the natural sound of the Lithuanian language. I usually translate in three stages:
- I will first translate the film transcript verbatim,
- then I correct according to the context, i.e. by watching the film
- and finally, I distance myself from the English text and rewrite everything as it would sound in Lithuanian.
And how long does it take to translate? If there is a text of about 10,000 words (I guess that's how many words there are in an average film?), how many hours do you have to spend on these three stages of translation? I guess it depends on the complexity of the language, but a rough estimate?
In fact, it depends very much on the film. This film was not difficult, I translated about half of it, and Sun translated the rest. It took me no more than 4 hours to translate, with subtitle synchronisation, with the film itself. As far as the distribution of work is concerned, this time it went like this: the Sun started and I had Saturday off, so I just sat down and started working from the last line she translated.
And how do you divide up the work when you're working as a couple? Do you just take the text in chunks, or do you also check each other's translation?
It was probably the simplest film we have ever had. It has very little text, the language is simple and the film itself is not long - just an hour. The most difficult film I had to deal with was "Unlocking the Cage". Not only is it incredibly rich in text, but the text is also heavy - legal terms, some of them Latin, dominated the film, and the film did not explain them. Perhaps the film is more suited to a US audience.
Personally, when I first watched the film, I didn't know what the terms meant because I hadn't come across them before. So I did some research and research before I started translating. But our audience is not going to go to Wikipedia during the film and search for certain phrases that they have heard in the film, so we have tried to provide translations of those terms.
...This has led to criticism from professional lawyers who have seen the film.
However, I think it was the right decision, because it made the film more understandable, and the inaccuracy of the legal terms did not hinder the flow of the film and its main message.
It is virtually impossible to find information about the translators of "The Last Piglet" without asking them directly. At least, I couldn't find anything in the guggle. Don't you feel forgotten when film translators are not mentioned in film presentations? However, it is a creative, some would say artistic work.
In general, I try to remain invisible in my work and I would like to be as invisible as possible. This allows me to focus on the the work, the benefits to the organisation and the animals, not how people see me.
And how do you feel about poor translators? Do you think a poor translation is better than no translation? Or is it up to the translators to take responsibility for getting it right?
The evaluation of a translation is perhaps most dependent on the context. If it's a commercial film for which I pay money, a poor translation is really annoying, especially if it's in a language I don't understand. But for non-commercial films, I am more forgiving, because I know that the translation was probably done by people who not only did not get paid, but also did it in their spare time and probably put their whole heart into it.
And isn't it difficult to translate parts of films that you don't fully agree with? I suppose there can sometimes be a temptation to embellish the translation with a few words or to bend the phrase in a more "correct" direction? I believe that's the way any creative brain works - we like to defend our views. How do you deal with that?
We usually show films in English, so you can't fool the audience, because most of them speak perfect English. On the other hand, we choose the films we show, so I have never had a situation where the translated text clashed too much with my own beliefs.
However, a translation will never be identical to the original, the translator's touch will always be there.
Translation, especially of a more complex text, is an interpretation, and everybody will have a slightly different perception of the same text, and will pay attention to the details that are most relevant to them, so I don't try to avoid that.
Look, I'm still interested in veganism. I'm thinking of creating one in the future http://7dayvegan.com a copy and take a few interviews from vegans. Recently, a friend of mine referred to you as a "turbo vegan", but didn't tell me why. Why do you think she called you that?
Ha ha, I don't know exactly what "turbo vegan" means. I probably spend too much time on the internet. 😀
Are you vegan more for moral or ecological reasons? Or maybe for another reason?
I chose veganism because it's convenient and relatively simple to help animals. Veganism seems to me to be the optimal option, it's not perfect, but it's a way of life that doesn't require major changes in principle.
You don't have to move to the countryside or the woods, you don't have to disengage from social life, become anti-capitalist or anything else.
A day when you choose not to eat animals, is no different from yesterday when you ate them.
All that changes is the contents of the plate.
And are you sure you're not detached? For example, when I became vegan, my mother stopped inviting me to eat with her because she only cooks animal food. What about you? Have your friends and communication changed? Have there been negative reactions? Are they gone or have they survived?
When I went vegan, I didn't have any social problems. Nor have I heard from my circle of acquaintances that anyone has had any negative reactions from friends or family. My close friends and family have not gone vegan, but many of them are happy to try plant-based food whenever they get the chance.
...Of course, I judge from my own experience and perhaps I live in a bubble of very open-minded people. 🙂
And if a person wanted to try veganism for, say, a week, is there anything you would recommend they read or see? Like a page or video with recipes for the week, or something like that?
A week of veganism is a tricky business.
Normally, I recommend that people interested in a plant-based diet take their time: Replace breakfast with a plant-based diet first, then lunch, but only once or twice a week.
Finally, over the course of a month or two, start giving up more and more animal products. As I said, veganism is a choice that doesn't require very much, i.e. it only changes what we eat. It is, however, a habit and it may not be easy to change it suddenly.
When diving headfirst, perhaps the first thing I would recommend trying as many plant-based restaurants as possible - a list of these can be found at www.augalybe.lt. That way, you won't have to worry about what to eat, and experienced chefs will show you just how varied and delicious plant-based food can be.
Oh, I remembered - I've been told that plants feel pain too (there are studies). What would you do if this were true?
Plants don't feel pain; a chemical reaction is not the same as a nerve impulse. We can speculate on the unknown and say that just because 100% we don't know whether plants feel pain doesn't mean it isn't true. But we do know that animals not only feel pain but also have a very wide emotional spectrum.
It is wrong to hold sentient animals hostage to our speculation.
But let's assume that plants do feel pain and have emotions. In any case, veganism, however imperfect it may be, is the best we could do to hurt as few sentient beings as possible.
To grow one animal, you feed enough plants to feed a family for several years.
Do you think that moral/ethical veganism is a stronger argument for veganism than ecological veganism?
I think philosophically the moral argument is stronger, may make it easier to persuade individuals to become vegan. But the fact that a plant-based diet is much better for the environment is a much more powerful political weapon.
Of course, politics is a dirty business, surrounded by powerful farming interests that will not allow anyone to acknowledge the facts and take action against them.
...But by slowly untying the knots of corruption, the ecological argument for plant-based diets could become very powerful, both on climate change and, indirectly, on animal exploitation.
Oh, thank you so much for the interview, Mykola! It was fun and interesting! If there's anything else you'd like to add, there's room. For advertising, invitations, whatever you want.
Thank you! 🙂 I think I've already written a lot, so maybe I won't add anything. 😀