Camus Translation Team: Here are your assignments. (Updated)
Our volunteers Lola and wangbumaximus21 report that the Matthew Ward US translation of The Stranger is less wordy than the Stuart Gilbert version we are using. We chose the Gilbert because it’s available free online, but if you have the Ward, feel free to use that.
dindin has already submitted her pages. We hope to be able to post a substantial chunk of the Tagalog translation by tomorrow.
Let us know how your work is going and whether you’ve encountered any issues. We’re looking forward to reading Ang Estranghero.
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Albert Camus with his publisher, Michel Gallimard. Photo from the NYRB.
Welcome to our Albert Camus birthday project. We are using the English translation by Stuart Gilbert.
Please use “Ina” for “Mother” and keep the sentences short. Be faithful to the text, but mind the whole rather than the parts. Take the Camus quote, “Fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” The word-for-word rendering is “Ang likhang-isip ay isang kasinungalingan kung saan nagsasabi tayo ng katotohanan.” It’s a bit awkward. “Likhang-isip ang kasinungalingang ginagamit natin upang magsaad ng katotohanan” has a smoother flow.
Don’t worry if your Tagalog is not mellifluous—we’ll ask an editor to go over our complete draft. (Please note that the page numbers are at the bottom.)
Your assignments:
Part One
Chapter I, until ‘I think I dozed off for a while.’ – Lola T
Chapter I, pages 8-13 – qbeng
Chapter II – turmukoy
Chapter III – jaime
Chapter IV – messengerbagboy
Chapter V – the chronicler of boredom
Chapter VI – Chus
Part Two
Chapter I – balqis
Chapter II – wangbumaximus21
Chapter III, until ‘…suggested I should have some coffee’ – dindin
Chapter III, pages 57-61 – oberstein
Chapter IV – the boomerang kid
Chapter V, until p.70, ‘…he seemed a mild, amiable man’ – Patricia
Chapter V, pages 71 to the end – Uro
We have room for at least two more volunteers. Our goal is to post the full translation by 7 November, so please email your sections to saffron.safin@gmail.com before then (But don’t worry if you’re late, we’ll wait).
Allez.
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Listen to The Stranger in the original French, read by Michael Lonsdale.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
November 1st, 2013 at 18:30
may i volunteer?
November 1st, 2013 at 18:33
Yes, please. Check the post for your page assignment.
November 1st, 2013 at 18:37
thanks!
November 1st, 2013 at 20:15
Have you assigned the title? The French title “L’Étranger” has been translated as “The Stranger” or “The Outsider”, but it’s closer in meaning and usage to “The Foreigner” or “The Alien”, as in the Spanish “Extranjero”. Ano kaya sa Tagalog? “Ang Dayuhan”?
November 1st, 2013 at 20:26
The movie version by Luchino Visconti used the Italian title “Lo Straniero”.
November 1st, 2013 at 21:41
Me, too. I volunteer.
November 1st, 2013 at 22:20
Thanks, Patricia. Please see the post for your assignment.
November 1st, 2013 at 22:23
Ang Estranghero
November 1st, 2013 at 22:32
Yay! exciting. Will try to read it in French. *ubo -ubo*
November 2nd, 2013 at 02:10
Just download my part, Your Grace. I even bought the copy before checking Your Grace’s announcement. This will be an intellectual and a stipulating experience for me. Muchas gracias, Your Grace!
November 2nd, 2013 at 09:34
kinakabahan na ako! :)
November 2nd, 2013 at 10:45
waah. gusto ko sanang mag volunteer. tapos na pala. now lang ako nag log, nag land trip kasi. birthday week ko yan. next time na lang.
November 4th, 2013 at 15:28
To keep the sentences short, may I cross-reference my translation with the version translated into English by Matthew Ward? His translation is less Britannic/in short, precise sentences.
November 4th, 2013 at 15:58
oberstein: That’s a good idea. We picked the Stuart Gilbert because it’s online and in the public domain.
November 4th, 2013 at 18:04
magilas: Sali ka na rin. Pick a section. Always useful to compare translations.
November 5th, 2013 at 00:14
Your Grace, did four pages out of 10 (based on the online-Stuart Gilbert version). After completing my own Tagalog-brand translation, Your Grace, I’ll then compare with the Matthew Ward’s version which I bought BEFORE Your Grace gave me the opportunity to do the task, and further refine my Tagalog translation. I’ll try to finish this ASAP before Camus’ 100th birthday, Your Grace.