The Da Vinci Code, The little Prince, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Don Quichot: thanks to translators we can read these books in Dutch. Converting a book to another language seems simple, but there is more to it than just copying the text from English, French or Japanese. Conversely, the books of Dutch authors also travel the world. And then it becomes clear how great the cultural differences can be.
The books by author Thomas Olde Heuvelt are popular in many countries. HEX has been published in no fewer than 25 countries. As an author, he must always give his permission before his books can be translated. If his book is purchased by a foreign publisher, this does not mean that substantive adjustments can be made in the translation just like that. But that does happen in practice. Similarly in the Chinese version of HEX.
“When I was on tour in Beijing in 2018, my publisher told me that something had changed in my book. I thought it was about the violence in the story, but it turned out to be about a family that is Muslim. The latter is a small detail in the book, but nothing about Muslims is allowed to be published in China,” Olde Heuvelt tells NU.nl.
The author believes that you should never touch someone else’s work without consultation. Nevertheless, he decided not to compete with the Chinese publisher and to accept the changes. “HEX is about a community that is controlled and has no freedom. This is the daily reality for the Chinese. That’s why I think it’s important that they have access to my books.”
‘Translation is comparable to a very nice, but difficult puzzle’
Nicolette Hoekmeijer, who has been translating books from English into Dutch for almost 35 years, has never changed a text so radically. “I always respect the author’s work and intention. The challenge is to stick to the author’s text and at the same time not give the Dutch readers the feeling that it is a translation.”
But how do you find out as an author that minor or major changes have been made to the translation? “Usually not”, replies Olde Heuvelt. “It will undoubtedly happen that a publisher in Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine or Turkey makes changes to my books and I never find out.”
Is it so difficult to translate a book without touching the content? Hoekmeijer compares translating books to a “very nice, but also difficult puzzle”. “As a translator, for example, you also work on texts that are decades old. They contain words and situations that we no longer use or know. As a translator, I have to be able to make something out of them.”
“And sometimes I don’t know exactly what the author intended. So translating also means interpreting a lot and every translator does that from their own experience. That’s why two translators will rarely translate a sentence the same.”
‘The soul of the story must not be touched’
Another book by Olde Heuvelt, Echo, was not purchased by both Chinese and Russian publishers due to the relationship between two male characters. But even in countries where you might not immediately expect it, that relationship was difficult. “Because the British are quite conservative, my British publisher asked me if I could change Sam into Samantha. Otherwise it would be too much about the relationship between two boys, while it just had to be an exciting book,” says Olde Heuvelt.
“I am willing to think along with publishers abroad and I am open to making adjustments to a story if it suits that country better. For example, on my own initiative I have HEX rewritten for the American market and is set in the village of Black Spring instead of Beek.”
The author nevertheless decided to include the relationship between the boys in his book Echo not to change. “That relationship is too important for the story. If I were to adjust it, it would really touch the soul of the story. That’s where the limit lies for me.”
‘Translator’s name should be on book cover’
They are also very careful in the United States. “Certain subjects, such as suicide, are very sensitive there. This also applies to politically incorrect jokes or swear words such as faggot”, explains Olde Heuvelt. “But you never have to answer for violence. A passage in which someone’s throat is cut, for example, is fine.”
It is therefore very important for a translator to be well informed about the culture in addition to having a good command of the language. Hoekmeijer therefore believes that the name of the translator should be on the book cover, next to that of the author. “On average I spend four to five months translating a book and every word has passed through my hands. With the choices I make, I leave my mark on a book. There should therefore be more recognition for the role that the translator fulfills.”
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