Susan Harris Chad Post + reading response Soren

 I thought Susan and Chad were so funny and charismatic! It was really interesting to get to see the nitty gritty publication ups and downs when it comes to publishing translated literature. I thought it peculiar when they said they didn't really believe in prioritizing the original--Gisele and I asked them afterwards what their exact publishing process was for Korean translator Anton Hur specifically, and Susan told us that if they had somebody on the editorial team that could read the original language, then they would have them read the original text to compare, but that it wasn't by any means necessary. I didn't really agree with that. 

I read the Rebellion poem, and I thought it was beautiful. I wonder about the structuring of the poem, with the last two lines indented, and what rhyme schemes or repetitions there may have been in the original lost in the translated version. Arabic seems like an incredibly beautiful, tangible language, and I wonder how she approaches translation specifically from an Arabic --> English standpoint. She seems like a mostly "reading experience" prioritizing translator, much like Chad and Susan stressed. I thought it was interesting that she said she mostly tried to focus on historical context and the poet's place in history when translating, as it seems like an important aspect mostly talked about as background information and not the whole picture. Barakat's and Fakhreddine's opposite relationships with the Arabic language, and I wonder if I would still feel that separation or connection from Arabic had I read the poemse first; if Fakhreddine really translated those emotions as tangibly.