--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Translation is a disturbing craft because…" description: "\"Translation is a disturbing craft because there is precious little certainty about what we are doing, which makes it so difficult in this age of ferven..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/gregory-rabassa-41041_age_translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-becaus_1148498.jpg" --- # Translation is a disturbing craft because there is… ![“Translation is a disturbing craft because there is precious little certainty about what we are doing, which makes it so difficult in this age of fervent belief and ideology, this age or greed and screed.” quote by Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/gregory-rabassa-41041_age_translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-becaus_1148498.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/gregory-rabassa-41041_age_translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-becaus_1148498.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/gregory-rabassa-41041_age_translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-becaus_1148498.jpg) > “Translation is a disturbing craft because there is precious little certainty about what we are doing, which makes it so difficult in this age of fervent belief and ideology, this age or greed and screed.” [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Translation is fraught with uncertainty, especially amid strong beliefs, ideologies, greed, and propaganda, making it a challenging craft. **In simple terms:** Translation is uncertain in a biased world. Key Takeaway Embrace humility and seek clarity. Themes uncertainty bias translation ideology greed Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical practical When to use this quote - literary translation - political discourse - media analysis Key Concepts epistemology interpretation power dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do you navigate bias in translation? - What strategies ensure fidelity? A Different Perspective certaintycertainty can lead to misinterpretation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Belief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/belief/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Crafts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crafts/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Greed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greed/) [Ideology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideology/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Translation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/translation/) [Translations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/translations/) ## Related quotes > [Every act of communication is an act of translation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/every-act-of-communication-is-an-act-of-translation/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [I have always maintained that translation is essentially the closest reading one can possibly give a text. The translator cannot ignore "lesser" words, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/i-have-always-maintained-that-translation-is-essentially-the-closest/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [A translation can never equal the original; it can approach it, and its quality can only be judged as to accuracy by how close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/a-translation-can-never-equal-the-original-it-can-approach-it-and-its/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [Teaching translation is more of an editing job. You act as editor. But you can have fun with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/teaching-translation-is-more-of-an-editing-job-you-act-as-editor-but/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [A translator is essentially a reader and we all read differently, except that a translator's reading remains in unchanging print](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/a-translator-is-essentially-a-reader-and-we-all-read-differently/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [In fact, many of the quotes in my books are quotes which were translated from English and that I read already translated into Spanish.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agustin-fernandez-mallo/in-fact-many-of-the-quotes-in-my-books-are-quotes-which-were/) [Agustin Fernandez Mallo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agustin-fernandez-mallo/) > [Where names of people or places would mean little to a contemporary reader, I figured "translation errors" could create interesting new meanings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-duncan/where-names-of-people-or-places-would-mean-little-to-a-contemporary/) [Hal Duncan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-duncan/) > [Translation is an interestingly different way to be involved both with poetry and with the language that I've found myself living in much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-hacker/translation-is-an-interestingly-different-way-to-be-involved-both/) [Marilyn Hacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-hacker/) > [The vices and the virtues are written in a language the world cannot construe; it reads them in a vile translation, and the translators…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/the-vices-and-the-virtues-are-written-in-a-language-the-world-cannot/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [silence is the language of god, all else is poor translation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumi/silence-is-the-language-of-god-all-else-is-poor-translation/) [Rumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumi/) > [A screenplay is really an instruction manual, and it can be interpreted in any number of ways. The casting, the choice of location, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-nicholls/a-screenplay-is-really-an-instruction-manual-and-it-can-be/) [David Nicholls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-nicholls/) > [The translation process becomes a highly subjective thing - turning reds and blues into black-and-whiteness. It's really bizarre for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-longo/the-translation-process-becomes-a-highly-subjective-thing-turning/) [Robert Longo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-longo/) > [The translation called good has original value as a work of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedetto-croce/the-translation-called-good-has-original-value-as-a-work-of-art/) [Benedetto Croce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benedetto-croce/) > [“My goal is to act as a faithful interpreter, preserving as much of the original's nuances of meaning as possible without embellishment or omission.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-liu/my-goal-is-to-act-as-a-faithful-interpreter-preserving-as-much-of-the/) [Ken Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-liu/) > [Drill in exact translation is an excellent way of disposing the mind against that looseness and exaggeration with which the sensationalists have corrupted our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-m-weaver/drill-in-exact-translation-is-an-excellent-way-of-disposing-the-mind/) [Richard M. Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-m-weaver/) ## More by Gregory Rabassa > [A translator is essentially a reader and we all read differently, except that a translator's reading remains in unchanging print](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/a-translator-is-essentially-a-reader-and-we-all-read-differently/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [Teaching translation is more of an editing job. You act as editor. But you can have fun with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/teaching-translation-is-more-of-an-editing-job-you-act-as-editor-but/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [A translation can never equal the original; it can approach it, and its quality can only be judged as to accuracy by how close…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/a-translation-can-never-equal-the-original-it-can-approach-it-and-its/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [I have always maintained that translation is essentially the closest reading one can possibly give a text. The translator cannot ignore "lesser" words, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/i-have-always-maintained-that-translation-is-essentially-the-closest/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [“So the poor translator must not just go back and forth between two languages, but if he is worthy of his calling must shift…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/so-the-poor-translator-must-not-just-go-back-and-forth-between-two/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [“The translator, we should know, is a writer too. As a matter of fact, he could be called the ideal writer because all he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/the-translator-we-should-know-is-a-writer-too-as-a-matter-of-fact-he/) [Gregory Rabassa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/) > [When you hear Portuguese, if you're listening fleetingly, it's as if you're hearing Russian, which never happens with Spanish. 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That was a hard work.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-kaulitz/we-have-started-to-make-music-at-age-seven-that-was-a-hard-work/) [Bill Kaulitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-kaulitz/) [Browse all 18,948 Age quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Translation is a disturbing craft because there is precious little certainty about what we are doing, which makes it so difficult in this age of fervent belief and ideology, this age or greed and screed.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gregory Rabassa" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-because-there-is-precious-little/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Age" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-because-there-is-precious-little/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/gregory-rabassa-41041_age_translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-becaus_1148498.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/gregory-rabassa-41041_age_translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-becaus_1148498.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c31/gregory-rabassa-41041_age_translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-becaus_1148498.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Translation is a disturbing craft because there is precious little certainty about what we are doing, which…” — Gregory Rabassa", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gregory Rabassa", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-rabassa/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Translation is a disturbing craft because...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-because-there-is-precious-little/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-rabassa/translation-is-a-disturbing-craft-because-there-is-precious-little/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```