How can Spanish Renaissance literature help us understand Latin American culture?
The more a person reads great literature, the more that person understands the world. The human condition is similar enough throughout time to be open to the insight gained from literature. Q: How does an author’s use of language affect the way you translate? A: If a writer is using an elaborate, baroque style…or a very clean, spare style, I do my best to write that kind of English. I’m trying to allow the reader in English to experience the text in a way that’s comparable to the way the Spanish-language reader experiences it. Q: When you’re working on contemporary literature, how collaborative is your approach to translation? Does the author have a role in the process? A: The author collaborates as much as he or she wants. Some authors are not interested in seeing the translation until it’s published, and even then I’m not sure if they look at it. Others like to see the translation before I submit it to the publisher. I’m always glad to do that because they, of course, have an insight
