Nothing Outside of the Text

151 CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION?

152 TRADITIONAL 導 (dǎo) meaning leader or guide, in its traditional form, has the character 道 (dào) interpreted as “road, path” or “theory, principle, truth, morality” and the character for “inch” 寸 (cùn) indicating the leader helps lead “inch by inch.”

153 SIMPLIFIED CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? In the simplified version, 导 (dǎo), 道 (dào) is replaced by 巳 (sì) which has some relation to the year of the snake but is likely more of a pictographic simplification.

154 TRADITIONAL 義 (yì) meaning righteousness, justice or morality, in its traditional form, has the first person pronoun for “I” 我 (wǒ) within it. The top derives from 羊 (yáng) meaning sheep.

155 SIMPLIFIED CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? The simplified version, 义 (yì), takes out “I” 我 (wǒ) and the space is occupied by 乂 (yì) meaning regulate, govern, control, mow, or nurture.

156 TRADITIONAL 愛 (ài) meaning love, in its traditional form, has the character “heart” 心 (xīn) within it. The bottom character is a portion of 友 (yǒu) meaning friend in 朋友 (péng yǒu).

157 SIMPLIFIED CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? The simplified version, 爱 (ài), takes out “heart” 心 (xīn) and the space is fully occupied by “friend” 友 (yǒu).

158 TRADITIONAL 黨 (dǎng) meaning (political) party, in its traditional form, has the character “black” 黑 (hēi) interpreted as dark or corrupt. A Chinese idiom uses this word to state that 结黨营 私 (jiédǎngyíngsī) “Gangsters form a party for personal gains and selfish purposes.”

159 SIMPLIFIED CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? The simplified version, 党 (dǎng), takes out “black” 黑 (hēi) and the space is occupied by the character 儿 (ér) meaning child, son, or youth. The Chinese Communist Party is thus written as 中国共产党 (Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng).

160 TRADITIONAL 國 (guó) meaning country, in its traditional form, has the character “dagger-axe” 戈 (gē) symbolic of protection within the character “enclosure” 囗 (wéi).

161 SIMPLIFIED CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? The simplified version, 国 (guó), takes out all characters within “enclosure” 囗 (wéi) and replaces it with 玉 (yù) meaning jade, symbolic of power and riches. 玉 (yù) itself is made of the character 王 (wáng) meaning king.

162 TRADITIONAL 鄉 (xiāng) meaning hometown or country side, in its traditional form, has a character symbolic of “men” 郎 (láng) or could be referenced as people. 郎 (láng) split apart might be interpreted as clothing production and sunshine.

163 SIMPLIFIED CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? The simplified version, 乡 (xiāng), takes out 郎 (láng). The common argument in favor of traditional Chinese is “how can one look back at their hometown if they have departed?”

164 TRADITIONAL 實 (shí) meaning full, fulfill, substanstial, rich, true, real, or even fruit, in its traditional form, has a \"roof\" radical 宀 (mián) on top of “a string of coins” 貫 (guàn).

165 SIMPLIFIED CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? The simplified version, 实 (shí), the “string of coins” 貫 (guàn) is replaced by 头 (tóu) meaning head. Perhaps, all that one needs to feel fulfilled is “a roof above your head.”

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167CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? Gritty Roman Gritty Roman is a text typeface featuring bluntly cut serifs and diamond shaped tittles. From large chunks of gravel to fine grain sand, the type sizes of Gritty reveal granular tensions between the smooth and rough, tolerant and intolerant, the governing and the governed, the dogmas upheld and views oppressed. Stubborn and resolute, Gritty, like 1984’s protagonist Winston Smith, questions the structures of authority and society through graphic hierarchy. Up close, Gritty is the preservation of the emotional and the individual within the space of large grey textual uniformity.

168 It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston

CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION?169 ! BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING

170 Title . . , . , / Sub Heading 1 Caption Footnote

CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION?171 . btitle Body ; ,

172 8/10 It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran. 10/12 It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. Even at the best of times it was seldom working, and at present the electric current was cut off during daylight hours. It was part of the economy drive in preparation for Hate Week. The flat was seven flights up, and Winston, who was thirty-nine and had a varicose ulcer above his right ankle, went slowly, resting several times on the way. On each landing, opposite the lift-shaft, the poster with the enormous face gazed from the wall. It was one of those pictures which are so contrived that the eyes follow you about when you move. BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, the caption beneath it ran.

173 ABCDEF CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? GHIJKLM NOPQRS TUVWXYZ abcdefghij klmnopq rstuvwxyz GRITTY ROMAN

174 GRITTY ROMAN 1234567890 ~!@#$%&* |/\\:;-–—{[(“?”)]}

175 12/14 It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks CENSORSHIP OR NATURAL EVOLUTION? were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide the face of a man of about forty- five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift. 14/16 It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. Winston Smith, his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of Victory mansions, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty dust from entering along with him. The hallway smelt of boiled cabbage and old rag mats. At one end of it a coloured poster, too large for indoor display, had been tacked to the wall. It depicted simply an enormous face, more than a metre wide the face of a man of about forty-five, with a heavy black moustache and ruggedly handsome features. Winston made for the stairs. It was no use trying the lift.

176 translation /ˌtran(t)sˈlāSH(ə)n,ˌtranzˈlāSH(ə)n/ (mis-) /mis/ See definitions in: All Biology Mathematics prefix noun 1. (added to verbs and their derivatives) 1. the process of translating words or text from wrongly. \"misapply\" badly. \"mismanage\" one language into another. \"Constantine's unsuitably. \"misname\" translation of Arabic texts into Latin\" a written or spoken rendering of the meaning 2. occurring in a few words adopted from of a word, speech, book, or other text, in French expressing a sense with negative another language. \"a German translation of force. \"misadventure\" Oscar Wilde's play\" abbreviation (computing noun) 2. the conversion of something from one form /ˌem ˌī ˈes/ or medium into another. \"the translation of research findings into clinical practice\" 1. management information system. 3. the process by which a sequence of nucleotide triplets in a messenger RNA molecule gives rise to a specific sequence of amino acids during synthesis of a polypeptide or protein. 4. the process of moving something from one place to another. \"the translation of the relics of St. Thomas of Canterbury\" 5. movement of a body from one point of space to another such that every point of the body moves in the same direction and over the same distance, without any rotation, reflection, or change in size.

177 4 (Mis) Translation “At what point does a translation become an ‘imitation’—or, beyond even that, a poem in its own right?” —Martha Collins Literary Hub, 2017

178 1. 3. 2. 1. illustration by Thomas Taylor © 5. Bloomsbury 2. illustration by Lyuben Zidarov © Egmont Bulgaria 3. illustration by Jean-Claude Götting © Gallimard 4. illustration by Dolores Avendaño © Ediciones Salamandra 5. illustration by Li Min © Peoples Literature Publishing House

179 To translate is often an impossible or futile attempt at (MIS)TRANSL ATION reproducing the original. We hear a lot about things being “lost in translation.” Harry Potter is a well known children’s series filled with neologisms, invented words, alliteration, wordplay, and british cultural references. How did translators face the challenges of bringing “the boy how lived” to life in over 70 different languages? 01-30-2019 One of the most interesting translation tasks came in the second book, when Harry encountered the memory of Tom The Magic of the Harry Riddle, an ex-student of Hogwarts. It’s soon revealed that Tom Potter Translations Marvolo Riddle is an anagram for ‘I am Lord Voldemort’, which doesn’t seem like an impossible line to translate until you Sofia Ellen remember that translators didn’t have the luxury of knowing in advance that they’d be faced with this scene and had 4. already decided on a name for Voldemort upon the release of their translation of Philosopher’s Stone. This led to some very creative and amusing solutions, such as: French: Tom Elvis Jedusor (“Je suis Voldemort”) Turkish: Tom Marvoldo Riddle (“Adım Lord Voldemort”) German: Tom Vorlost Riddle (“Ist Lord Voldemort”) Spanish: Tom Sorvolo Ryddle (“Soy Lord Voldemort”) Finnish: Tom Lomen Valedro (“ma olen Voldemort”) Greek: Άντον Μόρβολ Χερτ (Anton Morvol Chert) becomes Άρχων Βόλντεμορτ (“Archon Voldemort”) The French solution was particularly ingenious as it captured Rowling’s penchant for wordplay. ‘Sort’ is used to mean spell, along with the more standard word ‘sortilege’. This means that the name Jedusor can be read as an abbreviation for ‘ jet du sort’ which means a blow with a spell, or ‘ jeu du sort’, meaning a game with spells. The difficulty of replicating British culture was not easy to replicate for a global audience either. Translators sometimes changed those references to reflect that of the target country and culture and make the story feel less foreign. Some food items went through changes such as hard sherbert lemon candies became krembo; a chocolate-covered marshmallow. Even within English, crisps in the original manuscript became chips when the book was published in America. For the Japanese translation, Hagrid's west country accent was rendered through the tohoku dialect of northern Japan. In a discussion with my professor, James Goggin, we coined the term “useful inaccuracies” in trying to describe word choices that do not help in conveying the piece of writing literally, but rather used to convey it emotionally. To translate can thus be seen as a

180 means of reinterpretation and become a work of its own infused with the translators interpretation, worldview, and politics. There is never one sole translation that is the best or most correct. 百花齊放，百家爭鳴 Douglass Hofstadter, a scholar of science, physics, and (Bǎihuā qífàng, bǎijiā zhēngmíng) comparative literature, likens to Chairman Mao ZeDong’s Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a statement “Let 100 flowers bloom” as his philosophy on hundred schools of thought contend. translation changes through his own inquiry and undertaking of Mao ZeDong had begun the Hundred translation. A French poem he became fixated upon since age Flowers Movement encouraging sixteen, A une Damoyselle malade was a sweet and playful poem intellectual criticism of the wishing good health to a young lady. The words sat in the middle government as part of necessary of the page like a “skinny sausage.” reform and progress. However, as writers, lawyers, academics, scientists, At first, he approached translating the poem through setting up a and students started speaking out, series of key characteristics he wanted to try and keep. Mao quashed the criticisms put forth when it became “harmful and 1. The original was made up of 28 lines. uncontrollable.” The Movement 2. Each line has 3 syllables. he says, has \"enticed snakes out of 3. The stress falls on the last of these syllables. their lairs.\" 4. It is a series of rhyming couplets (AA BB CC DD…) 5. The semantic couplets are out of phase with the rhyming couplets: A, AB, BC, 6. After line 14 the formal \"vous\" is replaced by the more colloquial \"tu\". 7. The last line echoes the first. 8. The poet slips his own name into the poem. In a podcast interview with RadioLab, Hofstadler recites a few potential contenders:

181 08-27-2019 (MIS)TRANSL ATION 66 min Translation RadioLab Hosted by Jad Abumrad How close can words get you to the truth and feel and force of life? That's the question poking at our ribs this hour, as we wonder how it is that the right words can have the wrong meanings, and why sometimes the best translations lead us to an understanding that's way deeper than language. This episode, a bunch of stories that play out in the middle space between one reality and another — where poetry, insult comedy, 911 calls, and even our own bodies work to close the gap. Original Poem Professional \"First Complete Hofstadter's A une Damoyselle Translator Translation\" Mother malade Fairest Friend My Sweet Dear Hi Toots! Clément Marot Robert French N°9 Douglass Hofstadter Nancy Hofstadter Ma mignonne, Fairest friend, My sweet dear, Hi Toots, Je vous donne Let me send I send cheer -- Get well! Le bon jour; My embrace. All the best! Hospital’s prison, Le séjour Quit this place, Your forced rest And prison’s hell. C’est prison. Its dark halls Is like jail. Get well. Guérison And dank walls. So don't ail Flee your cell. Recouvrez, In soft stealth, Very long. (Clement’s orders Puis ouvrez Regain health: Just get strong -- in a nutshell.) Votre porte Dress and flee Go outside, Go pig out, Et qu’on sorte off with me, Take a ride! Open wide your mouth: Vitement, Clement, who Do it quick, Keep those sweetmeats Car Clément Calls for you. Stay not sick -- Goin’ south! Le vous mande. Fine gourmet, Ban your ache, Unless you’re hale, Va, friande Hid from day, For my sake! you’ll turn pale, De ta bouche, Danger's past, Buttered bread Lose oo-la-la Qui se couche So at last While in bed That wiggles your tail. En danger Let 's be gone, Makes a mess, God restore Pour manger To dine on So unless good health to you. Confitures; Honeyed ham You would choose My little flower, Si tu dures And sweet jam. That bad news, Mon petit chou. Trop malade, If you're still I suggest Couleur fade Wan and ill, That you'd best Tu prendras, You will cede Soon arise, Et perdras Pounds you need. So your eyes L’embonpoint. May God's wealth Will not glaze. Dieu te doint Bless your health Douglas prays Santé bonne, Till the end, Health be near, Ma mignonne. Fairest friend. My sweet dear.

182 Transcription is one such form of 08-27-2019 translation; one of from auditory experience to written text. Even Translation transcription can be riddled with inaccuracies as it is infused in my own RadioLab perception of the grammar that exists, Hosted by Jad Abumrad based on how I hear the syllables being stressed. RadioLab sees their podcasts as “DH: I do want to get to my the way it’s supposed to rhyme, auditory experiences and currently mother’s… she didn’t give you 28 lines, do not offer transcripts of them.* --she halved that practically-- Truthfully, there is a lot that happens RL: This one from his mom is that a translation then? Or is with tone of voice, the overlapping he says, came years after he that just a mom… what is that? of speech, differences in vocals, and started; and he thinks it might accompanying background music be the winner. DH: Let one hundred flowers that would be difficult to include in bloom. a typical transcript. I did my best to Douglas Hofstadter (DH): reproduce the conversation here, but Notice she doesn’t begin the (hahahah) definitely check out the podcast and poem and end the poem with give it a listen online. the same line, she doesn’t DH: As I got more deeply into *I since found have 28 lines, she has maybe this poem, my philosophy the transcription about 16 lines…uhm, she started to become Chairman after the fact and doesn’t pay any attention to Mao’s statement, “Let one have decided to syllable count, hundred flowers bloom.” In keep my version. other words, you can look at here. RadioLab Host 2 (RL2): You it from so many angles and must’ve hated this one! each new angle enriches it and makes it more fun. Jad Abumrad (JA): Yeah this one this- RadioLab Host 3 (RL3): Alright, but you can’t read a hundred DH: I did! My first reaction versions of every poem that was-- \"oh mom, no, mooom, you wanna read. C’mon. What are you- C’mon. Didn’t you pay any attention to DH: Okay, okay. I agree, I the form?\" And, and she said, \"I agree… did what I wanted to do, this is my feeling, and you know, JA: It does make me question that’s just what I did.\" *BLEGH* though, the, the rules of And actually, you know, I have engagement in a way, theres- to say, it has stood the test of time, it has some kind of DH: There are no rules! pizzazz that no other one ever had and- JA: is- JA: But if she didn’t respect DH: There are no rules. the forms, she didn’t do the JA: was- syllables, she didn’t rhyme it

11 min 183(MIS)TRANSL ATION 66 min DH: It’s all informal. DH: Obviously you’re getting to the question of what is JA: Ok but there’s jam in one translation and can it be done, of the translations, and ham my, my feeling is that, even in the other, and they’re like though these translations we’ve they’re factually different *heh* heard are all very different, food substances, somehow like they all show something about the facts of the poem should Clément Marot. be negotiable should they? JA: Doug’s basic point is (chehemhahaha!) that any person is kind of a universe they’re too big to DH: Well what is, what do comprehend their entirety, so you mean by a fact? I mean any translation, of a poem or a fact about the poem is that whatever, is only gonna get it was written by somebody you a tiny piece of that person, in FRENCH! It’s not in French a tiny fraction. anymore. (heeheheh!) RL2: Wait but but-- now here’s what I think Jad (RL1) was really wondering is, the, the mission we thought was, what was he saying; Not, what do we make of what he was saying, what are the flavors of what he was saying, what are the variants of what he was saying, what are the- JA: And even beyond that! Isn’t the expectation that you as a translator, are giving me him (Marot), like this man is lost to time, and now suddenly, I get to experience him. But if a hundred flowers are blooming, that somehow feels like I’m not getting him at all.

184 I am fascinated by Hofstadter’s reference to Mao ZeDong’s “Let a hundred flowers bloom.” Perhaps a well intentioned reference, I find it almost ironic considering the history of what happened next as the campaign ended in increased censorship, executions, and “re-education” through labor camps. As I contemplated what felt like a troubling reference, I conversed with my father and learned another interesting story regarding Mao ZeDong and translation from an interview Mao ZeDong had with Edgar Snow, an American writer and journalist, published in Life magazine. The article concludes: 04-30-1971 As he [Mao ZeDong] courteously escorted me to the door, he said he was not a complicated man, but really very simple. He A Conversation was, he said, only a lone monk walking the world with a leaky with Mao Tse-Tung umbrella. Edgar Snow Photo from the Life Magazine article As a result of this and other informal conversations, I believe with caption: that in the future of Sino-American talks, Chairman Mao will Last Fall Edgar Snow joined Mao and surely adhere to the basic principles which have guided China an Interpreter to watch the October in all her foreign policies, her ideological and world view as Day parade well as her regional policies. On the other hand, I also believe Other interesting things to note: that, following an easing of international tensions, China • The difference between how will seek to cooperate with all friendly states, and all friendly people within hostile states, who welcome her full participation I name and translate \"Mao in world affairs. ZeDong\" vs. Snow's article which uses \"Mao Tse-Tung\" “A lone monk with a leaky umbrella.” Such a translation from • Reference to China (and many the article, while technically correct, has sparked Western countries in general) as \"she/her\" imagination of Mao ZeDong as a man who exhibited a sense of humbleness, with an incurable loneliness that comes with ultimate power. However, the real message was a known riddle- like idiom that could be deciphered even by school children as “I obey neither law nor God.” In Chinese, the word for hair (髮) and law (法) are homophones while sky (天) can act as a stand in for the heavens or God. A monk that holds up an umbrella paints an image where there is neither hair nor sky present, so too in Chinese, there is 无法(髮)无天 no hair(law), and no God. My father explains the translator likely knew the true meaning of Mao’s words but chose to translate literally for fear of repercussions that may come with a more interpretive translation showing Mao’s disinterest in diplomatic relations. Translation is an interpretation or synthesis of understanding. There is a saying that we judge ourselves based on our intentions, but others judge us by our actions. Similarly, what is being conveyed in words may not always be understood to the same extent you may have intended your words to convey. Even in reflecting on the title of this degree project, the original phrase

185 written in French by Derrida, “[there is] Nothing outside of the (MIS)TRANSL ATION text” may not be the right translation for “il n'y a pas de hors- texte.” Perhaps a more accurate representation might be “there is no outside-text.\" In any case, translations often offer us only a glimpse into what the original might have been. Ultimately, our communication through this abstract medium offer abiguities opening up multitudes of interpretation and misinterpretations. A flawed translation shouldn’t be an excuse not to engage with something, but rather considered an art in its own right. While we cannot always be reading a hundred translated versions of a piece of work (and often are only limited to one person’s translation), understanding that there are more possibilities and untranslatable nuances can help us reflect and consider the flaw of believing in only one viewpoint provided to us. Lost In Translation RISD Museum Plaque Description: One of two 2020 Dorner Prize winners, Lost in Translation celebrates linguistic diversity. To be installed on the Benefit Street exterior facade of the RISD Museum, this interactive public installation will consist of a series of five bilingual, augmented-reality (AR) posters, each displaying a word whose meaning cannot be easily translated across languages. Through typographic abstractions, the posters will progress between each word’s native script and its Latin characters, expressing what we often lose in translation: emotions, ways of seeing the world, colors, and memories. Lost in Translation is created by Vaishnavi Mahendran (RISD MFA 2020, Graphic Design), Alba Lara Granero (Brown PhD 2024, Hispanic Studies), Maria Victoria Taborelli (Brown PhD 2025, Hispanic Studies), and Sophia Petros (Brown BA 2020, Global Politics & Art).

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187(MIS)TRANSL ATION Three Texts Computer-generated translations sometimes result in complete gibberish. Captioning software makes auditory meetings accessible for deaf users; however, the captioning program only interprets auditory phonetics into an English transcription, rendering it useless for anyone who wants to communicate in a different language. With this in mind, I asked myself, “how far can I push translation before exposing the biases within the software itself?” The humor of this project lies in the absurd results—translations that, while nonsensical, are not exactly ‘incorrect’. I chose to present a well known piece of Chinese literature in three different “translations.” Inspired by the minimalistic format of Joseph Kosuth’s One and Three Chairs, I chose to display my “one and three” texts similarly in a plain and honest manner. On the left is the original text, the middle is the spoken text, and the right is an English phonetic transcription of the text created by Siri.

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