Studia Islandica - 01.06.1994, Page 42

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in a foreign language as well as expanding native language
skills and consciousness (1979:210).
Well-directed and well-founded translation criticism can
also serve to support demands for higher quality in transla-
tion. Professor Helga Kress has stated that this was her
main motivation for writing a lengthy and detailed criti-
cism of the Norwegian translation of Leigjandinn by
Icelandic author Svava Jakobsdóttir. Kress’s response was
sparked by the effusive praise which Norwegian critics
(none of whom was able to read the original) heaped upon
the translator when Leigebuaren appeared in Norway in
1976, the translation having been supported by a grant from
the newly founded Nordic Translation Fund. The translator,
Ivar Eskeland, was subsequently honoured with the
Norwegian Cultural Council’s translator award (Norsk kul-
turráds oversetterpris).
After pointing out numerous and very serious flaws in
the translation, Helga Kress expresses her disappointment
with the translation and urges that greater care be exercised
in the production of such translations:
Sé þýðing Ivars Eskeland á Leigjandanum borin saman við frum-
textann koma ótrúleg vinnubrögð í ljós. Beinar þýðingarvillur og
önnur hroðvirkni blasa við á hverri síðu, og allt sem heitir listrænt
form er horfið úr verkinu. Eftir stendur illa skrifuð og óskýr saga
sem verður á köflum óskiljanleg. Er vandséð hvaða greiði íslensk-
um bókmenntum og erlendum lesendum er gerður með þýðingu sem
þessari, og gegnir furðu að Norræni þýðingarsjóðurinn skuli hafa
talið ástæðu til að styrkja hana. (Kress 1985:102)
As translation scholar Mary Snell-Hornby concludes
after a detailed study, “... translation, like any other kind of
specialized activity, will have to be left to the specialists
and not just any native speaker or dictionary owner who
happens to be available”. (Snell-Hornby 1988:131)
Objective criticism can lead to improvement. Snell-Homby
gives examples of translators’ and publishers’ reactions to
J