Poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright Dryden dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such an extent that the period came to be known in literary circles as the ‘Age of Dryden’. He was made Poet Laureate in 1667.

In his translation of the poetic works of Virgil Dryden sought “words such as he would probably have written if he were living and an Englishman”. It is for this notion of ‘equivalence’ as the central concept of translation, that Dryden joins the ranks of Heroes of Translation. A notion as adequate as any that had been proposed since Tully (Ciero), in Ancient Rome, cautioned against translating ‘word for word’.

The publication of the translation of Virgil was a national event and brought Dryden the enormous sum of £1,400.

“Since what is beautiful in one language is often barbarous, nay sometimes nonsense, in another, it would be unreasonable to limit a translator to the narrow compass of his author’s words.”

Heroes of Translation

Wycliffe was a scholar, a theologian and early dissenter in the Roman Catholic Church. He undertook the first translation of the Holy Bible into English from Latin. This challenged the church’s monopoly on access to God and was met with a furious response from church leaders.

Believing his source text to be the very word of God, Wycliffe produced a literal word-for-word translation and in the process added a huge number of words to the English word hoard. ‘Humanity’, ‘puberty’, ‘frying pan’ and ‘birthday’ all owe their origins to Wycliffe’s Bible.

For at least 150 years Wycliffe’s Bible was the only form in which the people of Britain could read the articles of their faith in their own language.

“My Bible is for the government of the people, by the people and for the people.”

Heroes of Translation

The translator’s translator

Marcus Tullius Cicero (Tully) 106 BC – 43 BC

Tully, better known outside Britain as ‘Cicero’, has had an enduring influence on the art of translation and the approach of translators. Politician, linguist, lawyer and philosopher, Tully created a new philosophical vocabulary coining words such as ‘humanitas’, ‘qualitas’, ‘quantitas’, and ‘essentia’ in the process.

A passionate republican in an age of despots, Tully fell foul of Mark Anthony and was declared an ‘enemy of the state’. He was murdered in 43 BC.

“I did not consider it necessary to give a word for word translation, but I have preserved the character and energy of the language throughout.”

Heroes of Translation

Over the next few weeks we will be telling you all about our Heroes of Translation.

Linguists, scholars and pioneers have all played a role in defining translation theory and have brought us to where we are today.

There are many people who have influenced us and our heroes are:

Tully, Wycliffe, Dryden and Nida

We take a look at those who throughout history have helped us to better communicate in our modern multi-lingual. multi-cultrual world.

“Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.”

Anthony Burgess, Author of A Clockwork Orange

This placement has not only given me an experience of an hour-and-a-half commute to work every morning, but also an insight into life as a translator. I have had an interest in translating for the last two years, and this week has confirmed my theory, that the learning of languages is the key to success. I have also gained a lot of knowledge of how effectively Temple Translations operate and manage the business, with which I am very impressed. Over the recent weeks in my Business Studies Lessons, we have discussed marketing and quality control, and seeing this all work successfully has been very interesting.

I would like to thank everyone at Temple Translations for making me feel welcome, and for giving me the opportunity to see what my life could consist of in the future. I really do hope I can return here one day or perhaps to the New York office, to gain further experience of the translating world!

If there are any young students reading this, then please, take no hesitation in following my advice; learn a language, and you will never regret it.

By Samuel Kelly, a student at Southend High School for Boys

Now in its fourth year, Free the Word! has moved from strength to strength and continues to showcase the best writing talent from across the globe. Temple Translations is delighted to continue to support the cause.

The theme this year was most pertinent for Temple; ‘Translating Power’ explored the barriers that writers can come across when trying to reach readers with their work, whether these be political, commercial or linguistic.

The launch event was a fantastic opening to the festival, with members of the team meeting distinguished writers such as Margaret Busby OBE and hearing speeches from Toronto author and President of International PEN John Ralston Saul, as well as other representatives from the organisation. There was also an opportunity to hear some incredible Uyghur throat music from Central Asia during an evening of celebration and reflection.

So why did we bother? At Temple Translations we have started to develop our own CSR policies, of which our environmental impact has become one of the core projects. Particularly being based in the centre of London, our effect on the local environment has direct and tangible consequences for fellow Londoners. Increasing temperatures, pollution and population within the city highlight the need for city-based companies to tackle rising emissions and help improve the environment not only on a global scale, but also on their doorstep.

So how did we do? Measuring from February 2010 to February 2011, we managed to reduce our consumption of gas and electricity by 37%. Without meaning to blow our own trumpet, this was a significant reduction and showed just how successful you can be by taking simple steps. However, that doesn’t mean that this was achieved without some thinking and effort behind the project.

Firstly, there were a few obstacles and challenges to overcome in order to get the project started. Trying to reach the target without spending, coupled with the existing technology in the building were some one of the biggest challenges. In all the key areas within the Translation House, that is the bathrooms, kitchen and some hallways, there are already motion sensors to automatically activate lights in order to avoid wasting energy. Furthermore, the building itself, is a listed building with little insulation and a simple central heating system, making a good level of energy efficiency harder to achieve. Finally, another problem to overcome was expansion within the company, not only in the London office, but the increased focus on the New York office (involving flights to NYC). So it soon became apparent that in order to make any energy savings, the tactics were going to have to involve informing and educating the staff, as well as bribery by food.

As such, a presentation was held to highlight to staff how each individual can help to reduce energy wastage. This comprised (not exclusively) helping people to change their energy saving settings on their PCs, highlighting the importance of turning off lights and electrical equipment such as the TV in the lounge, as well as persuading people to avoid taking the highly-inefficient lift and take the stairs instead. Equally, trying to persuade people to turn down the thermostats on their radiators in the winter and wear a jumper instead of complaining about being cold in a t-shirt, and avoid using the air conditioning units in the summer where possible, were other major points.

However, stopping at the presentation was not enough, as this was followed up by posters placed by switches and the lift to remind people to put into practice the energy saving tips they had learnt. As everyone knows, however, keeping the initial momentum going and encouraging people to stick to the procedures they have learnt, requires more than gentle reminders. In charge of the project was the aptly named Captain Planet, who had to keep people on track by monitoring the thermostats, AC units and PC settings throughout the building, and bribing with cheesecake – every few months the results of the most successful departments were released with the promised prospect of cheesecake as a reward.

In the end, through careful monitoring of the electricity and gas usage, and despite not being able to reduce the number of long-haul flights to NYC, Temple Translations beat the target of 10% more than three times over. However, this does not mean we will stop here. It is important to maintain and improve on this progress for the future of the company. 2011 will see the implementation of a CSR policy intended to improve the energy efficiency year on year (although subsequent savings will not be as big as those achieved in 2010), and the staff at Temple Translations are looking forward to the challenge.

Trying to cut gas and electricity use can be difficult, especially for a carbon light company like ourselves, who already have a relatively small energy consumption. This, coupled with one of the harshest winters on record and our expanding business in our New York office, requiring flights to NYC, is proving to be even more of a challenge than first anticipated. However, we at Temple enjoy the prospect of challenge, and hope to be able to reach our goal come February 2011.

One of the keys to success in this project is the participation of our stakeholders. Presentations, pep talks and regular information on our progress help to motivate and prompt people to think responsibly about their energy consumption. Whether it is cutting down on using the lift, remembering to put the PC into sleep when leaving the office, or simply remembering to turn off the lights at the end of the day, all the efforts made can help the environment around us.

At Temple, the idea of energy saving is not radical. For a few years now, we have had light sensors in various parts of the building, which automatically turn on and off the lights when a person enters the room. Indeed, being energy aware is vital to any responsible business looking to the future of sustainable development

If you would like to know more about the 10:10 campaign, please visit the website at www.1010uk.org where you can join as an individual as well as an organisation. Join us in our pledge to reduce our impact on the environment, and look to a brighter, greener future.

‘Free the Word’ will take place at venues in the Southbank, Soho, Holborn and Clerkenwell areas of London.

International PEN is a charity with centres in 104 countries, including those where freedom of expression is a luxury rarely affordable for the citizens. Fighting for the rights and freedom of writers, journalists and poets throughout the world has become part of International PEN’s goal, in addition to engaging with and empowering societies and communities across cultures and languages. So where does Temple Translations fit in with this? We support International PEN by providing translations for their three working languages. This would not be possible without the continued support of our staff and freelance translators – many thanks to all.

If you are interested in visiting International PEN’s ‘Free the Word!’ festival, or would like to know more about the charity organisation, please follow this link: http://www.internationalpen.org.uk/go/literary-events/free-the-word-/free-the-word

Please come along and support the invaluable work of International PEN.

Following the success of last year’s 26 Exchanges project, PEN is again collaborating with UK writer’s association 26 on a creative project for Free the Word! Festival. 26 have randomly paired each of the 50th anniversary writers with a writer from 26, including Ruth Clarke, one of Temple’s in-house translators. The brief: to write 50 words, no more, no less, inspired by the life and work of the writer they have been paired with. These 50 parcels of poetry, prose, meditation and agitation are being posted on the 26:50 blog, day by day, through the last day of the Free the Word! Festival in April.

You can read Ruth’s poem and other at http://26-50.tumblr.com