tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Sun Oct 28 12:17:58 2001
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Re: Klingon literature: clipped or flowery?
Since we currently don't have "original" Klingon literature (written by
native Klingons), we don't know how books are written on Qo'noS.
As far as the Poe Project goes, translations should be as close to the
original as possible. It would be possible to summarize a story in a few
Klingon sentences. However, we could do that in English too. "A man commits
murder. He tries to cover up the murder. He gets caught. The End." That
isn't a very satisfying story. A Klingon might like a 3-sentence long story,
but the translations will be read by Klingon-speaking humans. For the
project, include as much detail as the original. Don't worry that a Klingon
might think "This story has superfluous details and is inefficient."
- taD
----- Original Message -----
From: "Daniela Berger" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, October 21, 2001 8:04 AM
Subject: Klingon literature: clipped or flowery?
>
> Hello, it's me again!
>
> And I have another question.
> When I translated the story about the northwind and the sun, Clayton
> sent me his version, and I noticed that it was a lot shorter. This
> brings me to the question:
> Are Klingons as curt in their literature as they are in their everyday
> conversation? Would an author be called weak or un-Klingon if he used
> more words than strictly necessary?
> This question really made me think when I considered translating "The
> Oval Portrait" for the Poe Project. This story could be expressed in
> -hm- five(?) sentences of Clipped Klingon, and thus be about 90%
> shorter than the original.
>
> So, what do you think: should telling a Klingon a story be like giving
> a report, or is it okay to be more verbose?
>
> Thank you
>
> Daniela B