<HTML><HEAD></HEAD>
<BODY dir=ltr>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>
<DIV dir=ltr>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">
<DIV>This is the title of an article of mine in VWM81* & VWB37. It
suddenly occurred to me to wonder what translators have made of the problem,
and, if I am right, more black people are appearing in translations. My
knowledge of foreign languages is limited, and the examples I’m choosing from
“Jacob’s Room” are another problem, since generally it was not one of the first
of Woolf’s books to be translated. The only complete translation to appear
in her lifetime was Swedish (selections appeared in French in journals).
And of course, I don’t have all the translations.</DIV>
<DIV>*<A
title=https://virginiawoolfmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/vwm81spring2012.pdf
href="https://virginiawoolfmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/vwm81spring2012.pdf">https://virginiawoolfmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/vwm81spring2012.pdf</A></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'>Ch.
VI: Out she swept, the black woman with <SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'>the
dancing feather in her hat.</SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'>Ch.
XII: <SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'>Italy
is all fierceness, bareness, exposure, and black priests shuffling along the
roads. </SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'>FRENCH</SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'>Jean
Talva, 1942: “la femme en noir”; “prêtres” [no adjective!].</SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'>Magali
Merle, 1993: “la femme en noir”; “noire prêtraille” [an obscure word to me,
which I am guessing means clergy].</SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'>Adolphe
Haberer, 2012: “la femme noire”; “prêtres noirs”.</SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'>PORTUGUESE</SPAN></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'><SPAN
style='FONT-FAMILY: ; LINE-HEIGHT: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language: en-gb; mso-fareast-language: en-gb; mso-bidi-language: ar-sa'></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV>Maria Teresa Guerreiro, 1989 (Brazil): “a mulher negra”; “padres de
preto”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Lucília Rodrigues, 1992 (Portugal): “a mulher negra”; “padres
negros”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>ITALIAN</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Anna Banti, 1950: “la donna in nero”; “neri preti”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Mirella Billi, 1994: “la donna vestita di nero”; “preti neri”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>GERMAN</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Gustav K. Kemperdick, 1981: “die schwarze Frau”; “schwarze Priester”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Heidi Zerning, 1998: “die schwarze Frau”; “schwarze Priester”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>SWEDISH</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siri Thorngren-Olin, 1927: “den mörka kvinnan”; “svarta präster”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Siri Thorngren-Olin (revised by unknown), 2007: “den mörka kvinnan”;
“svarta präster”.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I think the tendency is there, although these examples are not
conclusive. However, translators should not make a book simpler for their
readers than it is for the (English) native speaker. If the word seems
more ambiguous (or even more misleading) now than it did in 1922, to what extent
should the translator use a contemporary word or interpretation? Yet, I
don’t want to read Dante in English, where the English seems
incomprehensible:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Now had the sun to that horizon reached,</DIV>
<DIV>That covers, with the most exalted point</DIV>
<DIV>Of its meridian circle, Salem’s walls,</DIV>
<DIV>And night, that opposite to him her orb</DIV>
<DIV>Rounds, from the stream of Ganges issued forth,</DIV>
<DIV>Holding the scales, that from her hands are dropped</DIV>
<DIV>When she reigns highest ...</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Stuart</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>