A Trip between Languages
The craft of translation begins with a voyage between languages. It is the path between two words, or two conceptions, that implies moving through a certain choice of affinities and an experience that will show within the text. The translator opens a book and opens a door to transformation, even in spite of him or herself: it’s the process of letting oneself be touched by words that have taken root in the inside. They will be the bridge towards a new linguistic sensibility. And this is not possible without the support of other points that are at the same time vanishing points: for me writing and historical research have been the tools to build language within intention and context, and to be able to choose the proper words to express the same ideas in other languages.
The translator and the creator are guided by their own perspective and their experiences that define the principles that unite them both. In the end, in that path, my target languages (French, Italian and English) have been forged around the Spanish language, the root and origin, that is being nourished by the branches.
What is the translator’s way? What are his/her reflections? Those are the questions that serve to define, for me, not only the craft but the path to take. In the end, the purpose is not always a deeper knowledge of languages, but rather to be able to ponder the weight of words not only to compose the best version but an equilibrated text.
For me it is as much an essential activity as it is a complement to reflection. It’s the space where ideas are being wrought, where stories emerge depending on the world that is being displayed from the inside.
The third side of the tricorn hat. It is an action that likes rummaging through the remains of the past to verify what we do not know about it. It is such a strong impulse from the spirit that it manages to open new paths from the past to coincide with known things or to re-conduct us towards other itineraries (some may appear absurd or rather obscure, but they will always have a sense).
BIO
With a bilingual (English/Spanish) education, with a B.A. in Hispanic philology and master studies in comparative literature, my professional career comprehends ten years in a very diverse publishing experience: text proofreading, foreign rights, book edition and project management with international agencies like UNESCO.
My path in the book world was strengthened by a Ph.D in Paris, in the Écoles des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, on the subject of book circulation and reading in the Early Modern Age between Europe and America; later on, a master degree in translation in the University of Murcia completed the process. Both structures have enabled me to move about the genealogy of the book, in its different territories, and to be able, due to these different formations, to work in translations with universities in France, Italy, Mexico and the United States.
Between the academic texts and other specialized translations (from Fondo de Cultura Económica and Random House), my work is basically related to social sciences, personal transformation, children literature and moving towards literary translation.
As a translator, it is essential for me to know as much the background of the text to be translated as the needs of every particular client. Both things converge to achieve a precise work. Therefore, the budgets will be adapted to each case. In the end, this work is always a team work to get the best results.
