Method 6: Fake Translations
Now here's a really strange idea for you (They will get even stranger, believe me): If you want to break out of a rut you find yourself in - especially if it's about something creative, like writing poetry - try this on for size. Grab hold of some foreign text - it really doesn't matter what the language is, it simply needs to be a language you are not very fluent in. Also, it doesn't really matter what the subject is about, it just needs to be a foreign language text.
Next, sit down and read it, and try to make sense of what is being said. You may recognise a few foreign words and know their translation. Use that as your starting point as you create your latest poem. Try to guess what is being said. It doesn't matter if you're wrong and the translation is false. That is all part of the fun and creativity of trying to create a poem out of a foreign language text. Language is language, and as we all know in poetry, words can be made to mean what we want them to mean.
Method 7: Foreign End Rhymes
This is even stranger: Using the same kind of foreign language texts, look for words that appear to rhyme. Use them in your end rhymes in the poems you have already written. Replace the end rhymes you already used with the foreign end rhymes. It may not work, but have a go. You may create something unique and mysterious. It may start a whole new trend in poetry writing!
Have a go, try again, and then try again. The more you attempt these false translation techniques, the more they will begin to make some creative sense to you.
Steve Wheeler
Image from Flickr used under a Creative Commons Licence
Previous posts in this series:
Experimental Poetry 1: Found Poetry
Experimental Poetry 2: Stream of Consciousness
Fake translation of Arbolé, Arbolé, seco y verdi.
ReplyDeleteThe wind of the beautiful roster
Was understanding vinegar
The gale of galloping bulls
That took for the cinnamon
Four jumping parsons
Sober jackass Andalusians
With blue and green stripes
And large hidden caps
"Winds of Cordoba - haha!"
The wind of the eskimos
Passing three bullfighters
Delegated from five
With orange-coloured trousers
And spades from antique plates
"Wind of Seville, haha!"
The wind of the eskimos
When its later than a kitten
Dying with scattered light
"Wind of Grenada, haha!"
Was the wind of our loss
Merging to thoughts of vinegar
With the grey arms of the wind
Lasting through the century.
Tree, tree
Dry and green.
(Amazingly some of these lines are the right translation despite I don't know any Spanish). But some are wackily waaaay off!
That's fabulous. Quite a result Iain.
DeleteI have used an occasional Spanish or French word/phrase before in my poetry. But this great idea would, sil vu plait, blow the doors off the concept. Love it!
DeleteFake translations and using foreign words in your rhymes is a new possibility for me. I'll have a go. Oh the power of words! They are the purest magic I think. Arbitrarily connected to the reality they describe. We really can make them mean whatever we decide to. Endless fun. Thanks so much for blog Sfeve.
ReplyDeleteWow… these are some wild suggestions I have never heard of before in all my creative writing spelunking adventures to find different approaches… translating foreign languages into my own contorted mosaic of distorted perceptions… what a crazy idea. I love it. Your expertise is so welcome and appreciated Steve. I’ll have to try this!
ReplyDeleteStick with it all Matt. It'll get wackier
DeleteSteve's Challenge - Fake Translations
ReplyDeletefrom: LOS CUENTOS DE EVA LUNA
Editorial Palabras - Taller Literario
www.taller-palabras.com
May17/24/7:16am
THE HOUSE OF EVA MOON
by Fatamira
In what order do nite visitors come
to this new Manaba Mansion?
A hacienda well preserved with five dwellers
living in a Cabana;
Pero visits IIamada Scheherazde
Executing ordeal splittingly fast;
Let me impart five sacred mandalas,
treasured rhinestones to the retina
and heard under the Sun;
Approximately, urgently absorbing
the colour amber juncos,
Me, I am a poor Camino
Missing many important tours;
Desperately, I recall with trepidation
being involved with the invincibles;
In this final tenuous instant
I bid adieu to the Sun
You can only pursue the Bristol pronto
Recusing yourself from;
In a fuel of brazen anger distorts
the atmospheric of mosquito white banjo!
©️ 2024 Karin J. Hobson
Universal Peace & Love 🪷
What language was the original text Karin? It's quite a striking outcome.
DeleteThe language of my poems is Hindi,
ReplyDeletebut to connect with the world,
I translate those poems into English so that language does not come between thoughts
and we are all aware of each other's thoughts. Can make love
So in your case, find text in a language you don't know, like German or Portuguese and translate that into Hindi. The entire point is that you need to guess and use your imagination. Got it?
Delete