Thomas Mann’s “The Magic Mountain” was translated into several languages shortly after its publication. How does a translator approach the novel 100 years later? A short video provides answers.
(ETH Library Zurich, image archive / postcard, ca. 1910 / Photographer: Unknown / PK_006055 / Public Domain Mark)
Language changes with its historical, cultural and technological background. What was idiomatic self-evident 100 years ago may be misunderstood or no longer understood today.
Is a “domino” a game? Who is the «external page blue Heinrich»? And how do you translate a term like “soul dissection” into English?
Simon Pare is currently translating “The Magic Mountain,” which first appeared in English in 1927, into contemporary language. He visits Davos and the Schatzalp: places that provided Thomas Mann with the real-world detail for his sanatorium novel.
The ETH Library accompanied Pare with the camera:
“The Magic Mountain” was published exactly one hundred years ago. We are celebrating this anniversary at home and abroad with a wealth of stimulating events and activities related to Thomas Mann’s novel – from films and readings to this year’s Thomas Mann Lecture with Hans Ulrich Gumbrecht. Learn more.
