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Do you use Trados for literary texts, too?
Thread poster: Kateryna Mysak
Kateryna Mysak
Kateryna Mysak  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 01:15
English to Russian
+ ...
Mar 23, 2015

Morning!

I was just wondering...

Till now I have been translating various texts, but never a real book.

Do you also use Trados for literary texts? Or do you think it is inappropriate?

Thanks
Kateryna


 
Chiara Beltrami
Chiara Beltrami  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 01:15
English to Italian
Completely useless! Mar 23, 2015

I've been translating books (novels, comics, essays and romances) for so many years and never used a CAT tool. It's a creative job. Of course I do translate even technical texts, but literature is rather different.
Have a great day!


 
Kateryna Mysak
Kateryna Mysak  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 01:15
English to Russian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Yes, of course Mar 23, 2015

Hi Chiara,

thanks for the answer.

Yes, I agree, sure, literary translation is something totally different, but wouldn't it be of help to use the structure of Trados or would it just distract the translator even more?


K.


 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 00:15
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Useless! Mar 23, 2015

CAT tools support consistent terminology, but consistency can hinder the creative process and is not synonymous with quality.

 
Recep Kurt
Recep Kurt  Identity Verified
Türkiye
Local time: 03:15
Member (2011)
English to Turkish
+ ...
Nonsense Mar 23, 2015

I use it. Helps greatly with consistency in terminology.

 
Aleksandra Nikolic
Aleksandra Nikolic  Identity Verified
Serbia
Local time: 01:15
German to Serbian
+ ...
Totally useless Mar 23, 2015

Hi Kateryna,
for my spezialisation fields I love to work with my CAT Tool which is memoQ. But for literary translation I found it totally useless, it is a different , sofisticated process where you need to have much more possibilities, choose and create the right one. It is art.


 
philgoddard
philgoddard
United States
German to English
+ ...
Why would you want to be consistent... Mar 23, 2015

... with a literary translation? If anything, it's better to be inconsistent.

I think some people have become far too dependent on TM, and are using it even if it reduces their productivity. I was asked to use it for a tourist brochure recently.


 
Joakim Braun
Joakim Braun  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 01:15
German to Swedish
+ ...
Why Mar 23, 2015

Why would I use a tool that curtails my production speed, lowers the writing quality and takes the fun out of translating?

For very specific technical jobs CAT is useful - but even so, writing quality takes a hit.


 
The Misha
The Misha
Local time: 20:15
Russian to English
+ ...
Segmentation does help Mar 23, 2015

Ever since I started using a CAT tool (MemoQ) for the first time a couple of years ago, I have used it whenever possible, even when dealing with creative texts (which is what I mostly do anyway). Personally, I find that having the text segmented into sentences helps, if for no other reasons than helping avoid accidental omissions. I also find it beneficial to have the source and target side by side in case I have to return to any completed segment again. When you are just overtyping in Word, you... See more
Ever since I started using a CAT tool (MemoQ) for the first time a couple of years ago, I have used it whenever possible, even when dealing with creative texts (which is what I mostly do anyway). Personally, I find that having the text segmented into sentences helps, if for no other reasons than helping avoid accidental omissions. I also find it beneficial to have the source and target side by side in case I have to return to any completed segment again. When you are just overtyping in Word, you have to pull up the original file for that, and either toggle between them or divide the screen in two, which is an extra hassle. So no, it is not absolutely useless, at lest for me it isn't. Go figure, I used to be a convinced skeptic here before I tried that thing myself.

As an aside, what bugs me most about that MemoQ is the absolutely atrocious nonnative English of its interface which I sometime find totally incomprehensible, especially when dealing with new features or functions I haven't used before.
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Phil Hand
Phil Hand  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 08:15
Chinese to English
I do Mar 23, 2015

I have used it for fiction and for literary essays.

In the literary essays it was very useful because it allowed me to maintain consistency in the translations I gave of the books being considered. In fiction, that consistency can be useful, too - sometimes characters' names need to be translated, and you can chuck them all into your termbase.

But mostly I use it because I'm used to it. It's a part of my working process now. I find the segmenting into sentences helpful
... See more
I have used it for fiction and for literary essays.

In the literary essays it was very useful because it allowed me to maintain consistency in the translations I gave of the books being considered. In fiction, that consistency can be useful, too - sometimes characters' names need to be translated, and you can chuck them all into your termbase.

But mostly I use it because I'm used to it. It's a part of my working process now. I find the segmenting into sentences helpful, because it makes me focus and just churn through the text, leaving the fine tuning till later. Of course, with literature the editing process outside Trados is longer and more intensive. But it's fine to use it if you like it.

In the middle of the book of literary essays I did, I suddenly got fed up with using Trados - for some reason it seemed to be interfering with the flow of paragraphs. So I stopped using it for a few chapters, then later I went back to it. There's no need to be dogmatic either way!
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LilianNekipelov
LilianNekipelov  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 20:15
Russian to English
+ ...
Never. Mar 24, 2015

CAT tools has no use in literary translation, in my opinion.

 
Usch Pilz
Usch Pilz
Local time: 01:15
English to German
+ ...
No!!!!!!!!! Mar 24, 2015

I have been translating fiction since 1999. English to German.
It's fun, it's a challenge, it's hard work, it's amazing - and it's not what you would use a CAT-tool for.

Sometimes I have to re-arrange whole paragraphs to make a joke work in the target language. Whatever the language - you want the laugh at the end, not somewhere in the middle.

My translating needs to reflect so many manners of speech in dialogues, so many facets of style ... A CAT-tool would steri
... See more
I have been translating fiction since 1999. English to German.
It's fun, it's a challenge, it's hard work, it's amazing - and it's not what you would use a CAT-tool for.

Sometimes I have to re-arrange whole paragraphs to make a joke work in the target language. Whatever the language - you want the laugh at the end, not somewhere in the middle.

My translating needs to reflect so many manners of speech in dialogues, so many facets of style ... A CAT-tool would sterilize all that.

So: No!!!
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Peter Linton (X)
Peter Linton (X)  Identity Verified
Local time: 00:15
Swedish to English
+ ...
Segmentation, not TM, is the attraction Mar 24, 2015

The Misha wrote:
Personally, I find that having the text segmented into sentences helps. ... I used to be a convinced skeptic here before I tried that thing myself.

Most of the other replies have missed the point made by The Misha - the main advantage of CAT tools for literature is not the TMs, but the segmentation. That displays source and target in 2 columns side by side, which gives you a much clearer overview. What's more, this avoids overtyping, which to my mind is a primitive and error-prone way of working. That alone justifies a CAT tool. Add in speech recognition and you have a powerful combination well suited to literary translation.

There is nothing in these tools that prevents you from varying the sequence of words, sentences and paragraphs. There is nothing that imposes consistency or lack of it, curtails your production speed, lowers the writing quality, sterilises your work. or imposes a structure. What matters is how you use the tool.

But I will concede that translating poetry is a different ball game. For that I prefer pen and paper.


 
The Misha
The Misha
Local time: 20:15
Russian to English
+ ...
Poetry is indeed strictly a pen and pencil affair Mar 25, 2015

Peter Linton wrote:

But I will concede that translating poetry is a different ball game. For that I prefer pen and paper.



Even though I am a real sucker for pencils:)

Funny how it seems that most of those who are saying a firm "no" are probably those who have never used any CAT tools or never bothered to learn how to use them properly. I should know: not too long ago, I was one of them, and I am now the first person to admit that.




[Edited at 2015-03-25 02:27 GMT]


 
Joakim Braun
Joakim Braun  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 01:15
German to Swedish
+ ...
Hm Mar 25, 2015

The Misha wrote:
Funny how it seems that most of those who are saying a firm "no" are probably those who have never used any CAT tools or never bothered to learn how to use them properly.


Well, I'm a programmer in several programming languages and have learned how to use tools more complex than Trados (compilers, video editors, animation software, page layout software, databases etc.). I'm fine with complexity and steep learning curves.

I don't deny that for technical jobs where consistency is paramount CAT is useful. But even in a good, clean, stable, responsive, bug-free UI (I have yet to see one!) the segmentation would break my flow and inhibit the necessary recasting of the text, making for dull, slow, translatorish output.

[Bearbeitet am 2015-03-25 12:02 GMT]


 
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Do you use Trados for literary texts, too?







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