2022/10/26: The Translator's Note

2022. 10. 26. 15:48매일/번역

 

1) 오늘의 할 일: 번역가의 말을 번역하는 번역가가 되어 번역가의 말을 번역하고 원문 퇴고.

 

2) 총작업시간: 862HRS + 2HRS

 

3)

 

4) 일단 다 번역했고 퇴고 한 번 쓱 레츠고.

 

5) 

시원한 답변에 엄지를.

 

6) 30분 추가요.

 

7) 번역가의 말, 영문 버전 퇴고 완료.

 


Translator’s Note

 

To listeners who might be there,

 

 

Maybe it was when I was 9 or 10. I was on my bicycle, with All Star by Smash Mouth booming through my headphones, patiently waiting for the chorus to hit. If I may borrow a phrase from this magazine, this was one of the first memories of my “L!stening history”. Man oh man, I still remember the thrills of rocketing down the hill through the rushing wind. I guess that was my first time when I had felt something in my guts, something soft and mushy. (Still not sure it was already there or appeared out of nowhere.)

 

A couple years later, my whole family left Korea for 2 years for my dad’s job in Kansas, US. From our new house to school, it took from 30 to 40 minutes on foot. Lucky me that the school was to the East of our house. I walked along the Kansan sunflowers that were facing me on my way back and forth. Even then, I would always have my headphones on. On a not so particular day, this kid — His locker was right next to mine — named Noah said to me, “You always have those headphones on. What are you listening to anyways?” Then he took my headphones and held it dangling right next to his ears. Maybe it took a second or two until he gave them back and said Tomorrow. Here. Same time. He turned and left with a scoff just like that. The next day, same place, same time. I was walking towards my locker, simultaneously panicking with worries and hoping for something fun. Noah was already there. He saw me from the corner of his eye but kept his head forward. He very delicately put his hand inside his jacket to reach his patch pocket. My mind, full of terror, full of panic, and now running out of hopes for fun, was soon filled with question marks that rushed in as I saw a black square thingy on his hand. He handed the object to me and said, “Try this, and come back tomorrow.” He left again. He nonchalantly walked off again. 

 

In my sweating palm, there was a CD. It read <Back in Black>. I went home and put it on through my family’s audio system. With a puzzled face, I played the CD and gently lay on the living room floor. Man, Rock and Roll wasn't noise pollution after all. After having it on repeat for twice, the smushy thing inside me had become that of Rock ’n’ Roll. So edgy, yet so rugged. Ever since, my hair had been growing out much faster, all my denim clothes had shrunk tighter, and I started to get angry at something that’s just bugging me for stupid reasons. Weezer, Breeders, Radiohead, Nirvana, White Stripes, Black Keys, Bright Eyes, Snow Patrol, Ramones, The Killers, Blink-182, The Rolling Stones, T.Rex, The Beatles, Gorillaz, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billy Joel, Rage Against The Machine, The Strokes, The Who, Foo Fighters, Queen, The Doors, … From that day on, our little trade deal kept on going for almost every other day. I call it a “trade” for the sake of convenience, but all I had to do really was just review the album however I’d liked to. I’d say something dumb like The bassline on this one was great. Or at other times, I’d say something like meh, this one wasn’t as good as the last one. So I can say I had it easy for something so great. Noah also seemed to enjoy my comments as well. Soon enough, we became best friends. I still thank him to this date. I learned it all from that little trade during breaks. How to enjoy music to my taste, why I don’t need to frown or unnecessarily act surprised when I encounter new sounds, how to find what I like from those foreign sounds, and how that approach will ultimately lead me to like the whole song in the end.

 

Now, let me fast forward the story to about a month ago in Seoul. On another not so particular day, I was translating, listening to my playlists. I got a call from Jihye, the editor and the creator of this project. She said she had a text to show me. They were the interviews she did while traveling in different cities of Europe, talking to people on music. It was intriguing. From Livina who likes stories and Emilia who paints wonderfully to Gabriela who was listening to music on her break and Adail who gladly accepted the interview while waiting for his Uber ride. Jihye’s interviews with these cool pedestrians visualized the scenes so clearly that it made the translation much more pleasing and easy. What made it fun the most was picturing the editor walking here and there on her foot, trying to talk to random people on the street. There’s this section in this magazine called “OOOOOO”. It introduces venues where you can enjoy music in the cities of her visit. In Lyon’s edition, there is a picture of a record shop. In the picture, if you look a little closely, you can see the reflection of the editor in the glass display. And you will notice that her head, along with her iphone lens, is angled a bit upward. Maybe this is how she really sees the music and the world, with deep respect and interesting questions, I thought. It made me more involved while working. 

 

The mindset and process that takes place during translation is a tiny bit different than that of reading. Sometimes, you feel like you are in the text’s world vividly from moment to moment. And as the old saying goes, a picture is really worth a thousand words. I realized something while translating this magazine. Realized one thing I couldn’t through all the conversations I had with my friends. “What is REAL Hip-hop”, “Is it Tyler or A$AP”, “What is REAL Rock”, “Why Blur’s career is so much better than Oasis’”. They all seemed so naive for the first time. Whether it is Rock ‘n’ Roll, or Hip Hop, or Jazz, or Trot that you have inside you, maybe that’s not so important. Maybe what’s really important is the fact that you have something in you. What must have stopped the Europeans when they encountered a woman from a country so far away, asking for their few minutes to talk about music? What must have made the owner of an antique shop close his shop much earlier than usual and bring out two chairs to simply chat about music? A happily walking painter of Berlin, a calm old couple of Lyon, and a straight-faced real-estate agent of Paris. What must have it been that made them open up and talk during their peaceful breaks?

 

Are you one of the categories of people who feels this thing inside you? Then I happily recommend the very first edition of the <L!stener> magazine.



 

To you, who is unmistakably there,

 

 

Jin Oh

 



8) 노아한테 너 이야기를 썼다고 메시지도 보냈다. 

 

오늘의 표현: "violence begets violence" / "for the record" / unmistakably / on foot