Editor’s Note: This is the first of a four-part essay on reception of minoritized translators of Classical Epic Poetry by Imaan Ansari.
Being a translator without being an interpreter is close to impossible. The following entities are only examples of the factors affecting the decisions that a translator makes: the author of the original work, the respective audience for which this author wrote in mind, and the audience that receives the translation upon publication. No translator is completely impartial—otherwise, all translations would be the same.
When it comes to ancient literature, the progression by which translations are differently received throughout time can be understood through the prism of “Classical reception,” a phenomenon that also crafts the archetype of the accepted or ideal translator [[1]]. Perceived legitimacy has its own allure within the Classics since authority as a classicist or translator is often less affected by the content of a person’s contributions, but rather, their identity and background. Classical reception, in conjunction with perceived legitimacy, allows us to interrogate the ways in which a person’s gender or race affects their reputation as a translator. The media and institutions of higher education promote literature of the Greco-Roman or “Western” Classics, which are then overwhelmingly analyzed and translated by authors of the same backgrounds. These texts become canonized, and in turn, so do their authors, but only a few translators are met with the same respect and reverence.
Classical reception is a double-edged sword, as the reaction which a piece of literature elicits pertains to both the original and translated work. Because the Classics look far back into antiquity, the authors of well-known works, such as Homer of the Odyssey or Vergil of the Aeneid, have passed away though their works have not. Although some may see “the death of the author” as a relinquishing of control over their work, the translator very much has the integrity of the original author’s work in their mind, whether by choice or because of the pressures relating to reception [[2]]. “Faithfulness” to the text then becomes a tough pill to swallow, since what if the lessons taught in the original piece would not be well received or even inappropriate for the present day and age?[[3]]
The decisions that a translator must make concerns the reception of their translation in addition to the threshold acceptance of the original work. Trevor Ross asserts that the “stewardship of an established authority or institution” drives the loftiness of the canon forward[[4]] An elite class of literature and authors grandfather in translators who then assume a spot in the hierarchy of the many people who have interacted with ancient text. The translator always has to straddle faithfulness to the text in the larger context of faithfulness to the canon, as they are entering a conversation about texts that have stood the test of time.
In this first post, I will focus on how classicists grapple with the racism and sexism present within ancient epic and the history of translating epic. The experiences of translators influence either implicitly or explicitly the way in which they choose to render a story. Using comparative analysis and recourse to translation theory, I will discuss how a growing group of marginalized translators and translators in Classics emphasize the political valences of their craft in order to stand in solidarity against marginalization. They have shown that, while no translation is perfect, certain translation choices can perpetuate outdated dynamics. Ultimately, by exploring these dynamics, I intend to show that adopting this mindset allows translators to more effectively grapple with the multiple levels of marginalization that may be present both within the texts and in their own careers.
Arshia Sattar, translator of the Ramayana from Sanskrit to English, has spoken on the traditional and almost ritualistic aspect of translating the Classics in a recent interview [[5]]. Sattar states that one is “rarely” the first translator, but is extremely definitive with the phrase “[one] will certainly not be the last” [[6]]. The so-called “first” translator from a certain background—the first female translator of a specific work, the first translator of color of a specific work—is often met with the response of making a person or their accomplishment out to merely be a symbol. The reduction of the“first” translator into a symbol ushers in societal acceptance to undermine previous scholarship and interaction with the original work, often from the demographic that the “first” person is alleged to represent. When they are recognized, women and people of color in the field of translation are often labeled as the first person of their respective minority to have completed such a commendable task.
The industry of translation then falls into a trap of representation: that a certain individual person speaks for all who share their background, undervaluing and discouraging subsequent contributions with the fear that they do not have the stamp of validation that is “being first.” If translation is not a transaction or a competition, shouldn’t being the “first” translator in whatever respect be irrelevant? Yet, if there were no more “first” translators, the industry of translation would cater to a smaller audience due to the more conservative elements of its history in the Classics especially. Translation would not live up to the global and diverse medium on which the industry prides itself.
The act of making someone a “first” permeates into the media’s reception of translations. The earlier quote from Arshia Sattar is from an interview that solicited the contributions of three notable female translators of different classical traditions. Words Without Borders, the publication that conducted this interview, strives to represent and give voice to those that are traditionally marginalized or silenced in literary fields [[7]]. The interviewer, Alta Price, curated responses from Emily Wilson, translator of Homer’s Odyssey, and Sholeh Wolpé, translator of Sufi poet Attar’s The Conference of The Birds, in addition to Arshia Sattar. Words Without Borders works to dismantle the influence of tokenism in translation by discussing a wide variety of works and allowing many different women to share their experiences, to work against the notion of a “female translator.” Price has therefore called for a Women in Translation movement, which is driven by the fact that there should be a standard in which society should see women: the same way as everyone else [[8]].
Tokenism, “the practice of doing something only to prevent criticism and give the appearance that people are treated fairly,” deeply relates to the representation, and often lack thereof, of women and people of color in respected echelons of the Classics. In an interview conducted at Vanderbilt University on tokenism in the corporate world, a member of the panel made the statement, “Intent is important,” encapsulating the difference between an organization that circulates tokenism versus one that advocates sincerely for equal representation [[9]] Applying logic to the premise of the interview at Words Without Borders, three women were chosen, besides the fact that they represent different languages, because they each grapple with the way in which society views them, in addition to and often more so than their translations. In turn, minoritized translators are more likely to fear how they will be received than how their translation will be received. Samia Mehrez (“Translating Gender”)[[10]] and Sherry Simon (“Gender in Translation”)[[11]] are among the many female scholars who have theorized gender in translation as well, having to bear in mind the skewed expectations for a female translator within the field of Classics.
Imaan Ansari is a high school junior at Trinity School in New York City. Her parents immigrated to the US from India, so her experiences as a woman of color and as a first-generation American influence her passion for investigating and amplifying the contributions of minority groups to the Classics. Imaan has taken Latin for six years. She is also fluent in Hindi and Urdu, and aspires to study Sanskrit. At school, Imaan serves on the Student Senate, fulfilling roles such as Chair of Finance, overseeing the student budget, and Speaker, communicating the Senate’s initiatives to students, faculty, and staff. Imaan is the Editor-in-Chief of Diversion, the Modern Language magazine, and the Editor-in-Chief of Symposium, the Classics publication. She is the President of Classics Club and also leads a free peer Latin tutoring service. Outside of Classics, Imaan enjoys playing golf, as captain of the Varsity team, and has been playing violin in various orchestras for over ten years
[1] Martindale, C. (1993) Redeeming the text: Latin poetry and the hermeneutics of reception. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
[2] Barthes, R. (1967) The birth of ‘the death of the author’ – JSTOR. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24238249 (Accessed: 14 August 2023).
[3] Irigaray, L. (2002) “On Faithfulness in Translating,” in Luce Irigaray presents international, intercultural, intergenerational dialogues around her work. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 32–41.
[4] Ross, T. (1996) “Dissolution and the making of the English literary canon,” JSTOR, Renaissance and Reformation. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43445609 (Accessed: 13 August 2023).
[5] Price, A. (2018) “Women Translating the Classics,” Words Without Borders. Available at: https://wordswithoutborders.org/read/article/2018-08/women-translating-the-classics-emily-wilson-sholeh-wolpe-arshia-sattar/ (Accessed: 13 August 2023).
[6] ibid.
[7] Words Without Borders. (2003) Available at: https://wordswithoutborders.org/about/mission/ (Accessed: 23 August 2023).
[8] Ibid.
[9] Sherrer, K. (2018) “What is tokenism, and why does it matter in the workplace?” Vanderbilt Business School. Available at:
[10] Mehrez, S. (2007) “Translating gender,” Journal of Middle East Women’s Studies. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/97559176/Translating_Gender (Accessed: 20 August 2023).
[11] Simon, S. (1996) “Taking Gendered Positions in Translation Theory,” in Gender in Translation. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor and Francis.
