From Publishing Perspectives:
Ahead of the opening of the 2019 Frankfurter Buchmesse, the independent German foundation KfW Stiftung held a short-stories masterclass, in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut in Cairo for young Arab writers. The program included 11 writers (one Syrian writer was not granted a visa), selected from workshops held in Cairo, Beirut, and Jericho.
They explored writing techniques, guided by Palestinian author Adania Shibli.
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There’s an interventionist style in the UK, France, Germany, and the United States, Gaspard said, when it comes to editing a translation. She said that most Arab publishers don’t provide much editing.
Lebanese author Elias Khoury jokes that “he looks forward to being translated into English because that’s when he’s edited,” Gaspard told the audience.
Piero Salabè, who edits foreign literature at Hanser Verlag, said that because he can’t read the original texts in Arabic, editing is not a given.
“You have to work with the translator to solve questions and contradictions. When something doesn’t work it’s usually because there’s an error in the translation or something is opaque in the original manuscript.”
If a manuscript is good, Salabè said, “There shouldn’t need to be many changes.”
Shibli—whose latest book, Minor Detail was translated by Jaquette and is to be published in 2020 by Fitzcarraldo/New Directions—said her editors don’t interfere much with her work. “I tend to be a heavy editor myself,” she said. “What’s unsaid and not written is as important.”
So how to translate what’s unsaid?
“I believe in the collaborative effort between the editor, translator, and writer,” Jaquette said. “In the silences based on politics, cultural background, and language, you can assume the reader will fill in the blanks. But with a different readership, it can mean different things, and there might need to be a shift.”
Link to the rest at Publishing Perspectives