Our Approach
The spark and the light in a translation are not the words. The spark resides in the intention of the writer behind the words. The light radiates from reader who receives them.
Transculturalism
“Unquestionably any group of immigrants coming from Europe to America suffers changes in its original culture; but it also provokes a change in the mold of the culture that receives them. Germans, Italians, Poles, Irish, Spaniards always bring with them when they transmigrate to the nations of America something of their own culture, their own eating habits, their folk melodies, their musical taste, their language, customs, superstitions, ideas, and temperament. Every change of culture, or, as I shall say from now on, transculturation, is a process in which something is always given in return for what one receives, a system of give and take.”
- Branislaw Malinowski
Craft
The craft of translation is one of the best examples of transculturalism. Every time a text is translated a “new reality of civilization” is born, and, in that birth, both languages as well as their speakers benefit. However, such benefit is realized if and only if the translator has taken the time and has made the effort to deeply understand the cultures at play. Our process starts with establishing a fluid line of communication with the originator of the text. It continues by placing ourselves firmly in the shoes of the future reader. And it finishes after we check that our product accomplishes the goals we had set up for it.
Research
We only put pen to paper once we are convinced that we have clearly understood the writer of the original text, the future reader of the translation, and their respective circumstances. We use every tool at our disposal, virtual and analog, guided by our own curiosity and our own knowledge of and experience in the field in which the text is inscribed. If we don’t know, we learn.
