Comments on: ExposiciÃƒÂ³n Filipiniana

By: Inday

Inday — Sat, 14 Apr 2007 21:25:01 +0000

On the Augenbraum translation. Would have helped if Harold consulted Tagalog speakers. Some Tagalog words glossed would have been much clearer. Can’t comment on the “fidelity” itself of the translation. Still hoping to read the original before I could do that.

By: O Roldan

O Roldan — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 19:22:33 +0000

Googled “Exposicion Filipina” and found this page expecting a historical account. What I probably should’ve been looking for was Exposicion Regional Filipina” — any idea where I could get info on that?
Specifically, I’m tracing a bakery / candy factory that won a medal… I’d like to get details of what the award was about and for what product in particular.

By: micketymoc

micketymoc — Mon, 03 Jul 2006 09:31:15 +0000

Depends, Harold. Do we get a discount? Just kidding. Looking forward to reading your translation.

By: Harold Augenbraum

Harold Augenbraum — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:23:24 +0000

This is Harold Augenbraum, translator of Rizal’s Noli by Penguin. I do not consider myself an “expert” on U.S. Latino literature, though I have edited six books on the topic and written essays about it myself.

I agree with the person who wrote that Rizal wrote with great wit, and I tried to capture it in my translation. My favorite part is during the great Damaso sermon, when the friar ends with “It is manifest, manifest, manifest!” and a dozing liquor salesman things the customs officials are after him for a customs manifest and runs off.

I have spent the past 13 years trying to get a new translation into print. I was dissatisfied with past translations. Rizal is a hero of mine, not for his political engagement, but for his erudition and artistic accomplishments. It was a labor of love, and I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to send me any comments you have about the translation.

By: burlogs

burlogs — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 03:24:02 +0000

penguin’s noli is already out. saw it sa nbs sa podium about two or three weeks ago.

By: mlq3

mlq3 — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 08:20:05 +0000

jhay: up, whether the old manila or diliman campus, would be the no. 1 heckling spot.

By: mlq3

mlq3 — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 08:17:47 +0000

I enjoyed the Guerrero version, which should be the point of any translation, I’d think. It could be a problem with Filipino translators of Rizal is they view him with such awe and reverence that it becomes a kind of Biblical effort, which ignores the need for style. The new translation should be interesting in that respect (Jessica Hagedorn wrote a blurb praising the translation).

By: micketymoc

micketymoc — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 07:29:09 +0000

I found the Derbyshire translation on Project Gutenberg; haven't been able to read through it yet, though. Speaking as a heretic, I would prefer to read a Noli translation that really lets Rizal cut loose at the shibboleths of his day - somehow that never came through at all when we were "learning" it in high school. So I'd guess mine would be a vote for "capture the spirit". Does Guerrero come close? And, I wonder, how will the new Penguin translation measure up?

By: mlq3

mlq3 — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 06:52:23 +0000

mickety-

personally, i like the guerrero version, i find the soledad-locsin version heavy as lead and quite literal -”man!” for “hombre,” for example.

my father, who read the noli and fili in the original spanish, told me that rizal was marvelously witty as a satirist, and that any translation had to capture that essential flavor in rizal’s writing.

i haven’t read the derbyshire or bocobo translations, though. i suppose it depends on one’s criteria for translations: should they be literal, or attempt to capture the spirit of the work?

By: micketymoc

micketymoc — Mon, 26 Jun 2006 08:56:16 +0000

Heard this personally from a prominent blogger (bato bato sa langit) that Guerrero’s translation to English is one of the worst. Is there any consensus on bad/good English translations of Noli/Fili?