tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Dec 16 20:51:20 1993
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Re: Klingon Shakespeare Translation Project
- From: [email protected] (Elfchief's Lifemate)
- Subject: Re: Klingon Shakespeare Translation Project
- Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1993 23:50:29 -0500 (EST)
- In-Reply-To: <[email protected]> from "Nick NICHOLAS" at Dec 15, 93 06:04:03 pm
Nick Nicholas writes:
> 1. People wishing to translate Shakespeare for the greater glory of _Hol_
> should write to (either the KSTP coordinator or the KLI), nominating the
> play(s) and poem(s) they are interested in. The KSTP coordinator will
> then assign out work. Since there is competition envisaged for some of the
> more prized plays (like Hamlet), it would be a good idea to nominate
> individual acts, if you can't get the whole things for yourself. Sonnets will
> be farmed out individually, rather than en masse, in view of their technical
> difficulty.
If noone else is interested, turns up, has the time, etc, I'll
gladly take this position. (Did I just set myself up or what?)
> 2. Every couple of months, people involved in the KSTP should envdeavour
> to send a progress report to the coordinator. If people are stalling,
> transferring work to other volunteers is an option.
Might I suggest that submissions to the coordinator be alternated
with submissions to a group of voluntary editors? I think setting up a
heirarchy of sorts would lessen the burden on all parties. In this
manner, editors too can send status reports of submissions and/or
suggestions should it come down to needing to transfer a body of wpork to
another translator.
> 5. The conceit that Shakespeare was a Klingon should be played to the
> hilt. For this reason, wherever feasible, Klingon topicality should be
> maintained. There are a number of ways to do this: references to Trek lore
> or qeylIS lore substituting references to mythology; constant denigrations
> of other species in the Galaxy (especially Terrans) substituting
> denigrations of other Terran races; substitutions of overt Terran cultural
> references with Klingon cultural references. For example, the perennial
Hmm, Othello, the Moor, as a Tellurite? Or *shudder* a Romulan
even? {{;)
> 6. The very literal translation will need to be very literal --- to the
> point of obtuseness. The reason for this is irritating, perhaps, but
> obvious: the KLI cannot profitably sell any Klingon Shakespeare to just
> the initiated. It will have to make inroads on the great unwashed Trekkie
> public. For this reason, the literal translation will have to be
> entertaining. It needn't make high farce out of Hamlet --- but be
> sufficiently quirky, possibly to extremes (like translating be'ni''a' as
> "long-sister"), to attract this public. If a TNG-based history of 20th
> century computing can hit the best-seller list, I see no reason why a
> Klingonish Shakespeare might not have similar appeal for those who would
> popularise the Bard.
Scary thought, but what with the younger members of the Star Trek
viewing audience (meaning I heard tell of a woman buying an 8 year old TKD
and both tapes for Christmas) we might be able to reach more of an
audience with this 'too' literal translation. Heck, people might even
decide they actually _enjoy_ reading Shakespeare and that it isn't
something to snore through in theatres or wade through in boring high
school/college classes.
> 8. Participants in the project should read each others' texts when
> possible --- particularly to avoid reinventing the wheel when it comes to
> vocabulary. Coinings like "ghItlhtaq" for "pen" should only have to happen
> once. They would also profit from criticising each other's work.
Absolutely!
> 11. Verse in verse translations is desirable. Klingon pentameter is
> tricky, but by no means impossible. The accentuation rules in TKD should
> be followed; note that they afford some freedom in verb suffix
> accentuation. If pentameter turns out unduly restricting to translators,
> they should feel free to explore alternatives such as accentual verse.
Hrm. Something about trying for any specific meter seems to me to
be adding headache to migraine. It is possible, but so many people
stumble over iambic pentameter in _English_ it may be asking jst a step
too much to try to duplicate it in Klingon. Dunno. Still thinking on this.
-Walker
[email protected]