Preserve grammatical constructs where possible in the current language pair. The way people express their thoughts verbally or in writing, including logical stress, is as important as the content of the message itself. E.g. “Мені ви були як брати” → “To me, you were like brothers” VS “You were like brothers to me”.
As translators, it is neither our right nor duty to bend the original to someone’s (including our own) views of what’s right or wrong. Obscenities, stuttering, mumbling, racial slurs etc. By trying to make things sound better or worse we interfere with the original and distort the message. This should be viewed as unethical, regardless of intentions.
Translating war-related material can be stressful. Knowing the limits of stress you can recover from is an integral part of the job. E.g. You can go on a translation spree and translate 10 2min videos with graphic content back to back, spending hours, then feel like curling up in a ball and sobbing for the next 48 hours.
This is a completely normal reaction and is not to be judged. Yet such pattern would be unproductive, decreasing the total amount of material translated over a period of time. It might be better to translate a piece of media (or a part of it for bigger items), take a break after an hour or two, check your current state (heart rate, blood pressure, thoughts patterns when relaxing for 1 minute and starting into blank space).
If you do not notice any warning signs of reaching your limits (elevated HR, BP, same thoughts repeating over and over again in a way that’s hard to change), continue, then rinse and repeat. If you did notice them, stop your work, try to stabilise your condition, possibly apply for help/support, continue your work only after you feel better.
You can’t do quality work if you have a mental breakdown. Martyrs are good for symbolism and morale, but bad for good productivity.
Page prepared by Yuriy,
Former Lead of Translation & Writing Pod