[Sca-cooks] Recipe Translations

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Since i have worked on and am working on many translations - from medieval French, from about 5 different forms of medieval German, from modern Turkish (can't find someone to help me with the Eski Osmanli), modern French, and modern German (translation of 16th c. Persian), i can see how variable translations can be.

If i can translate something myself, even if there's already a translation, i give it a shot anyway. And comparing translations of the same material by different scholars can be... interesting...

So when i taught a class at the West Coast Culinary Symposium on 9th c. cold chicken "salads" in Ibn Sayyar, i included alternate translations in the handouts, Nasrallah's for all and in one case by David Waines and in another case by Laila Zaouali. Sometimes differences are only in which synonym to use. But other times there are significant differences. And i think it's important to know that even scholars don't always agree with each other.

I'm also finding this in my mid-15th c. Ottoman translations of Shirvani, comparing Mary Ishin's translations of a few sweets recipes, my translations into English from Stephane Yerasimos's French (almost 2 dozen recipes), and my translations from modern Turkish (all the recipes - not that i've made it through 77 yet, only about 24 so far).

One issue is that sometimes the translator interpolates instructions. If they put them inside square brackets, it is clear. But other translators just slip them into the sentences as if they were in the original, which i think is problematic. I have also found other more significant differences. I have Shirvani's recipes transliterated into the Roman alphabet by Argunshah and Chakir, as well as a CD of the original manuscript, thanks to the kindness of Charles Perry. But i can't tell where the problems originate, since i haven't found someone to help me with the 15th c. Eski Osmanli, which is supposed to be much like 12th c. Seljuk.

While i do not claim to be a scholar of the caliber of Ishin or Perry, even i can see that scholarly translations are not always 100%, although most of us must rely on them. It's good if we are open to learning more. Often information comes from other areas of study, such as medicine, botany, even the culinary cultures of other areas from which recipes may have been borrowed.

Just some thoughts i've had while working on and comparing translations.

Urtatim (that's oor-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita