Dr. Kling's hard work translates into prestigious nominations

By Teri Olsen
Collegian Reporter
April 5, 2006

Dr. Vincent Kling, a professor of English, translated Austrian Heimito von Doderer’s book of short stories, Person Made of Porcelain and Other Stories. The compilation includes stories that range in length from one sentence to about 40 pages. Kling’s translations have been nominated for three translation prizes—the Tieck-Schlegel Prize, the P.E.N. Club Prize and the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize.

English professor Dr. Vincent Kling was recently nominated for three awards for
his translation of the German collection Person Made of Porcelain and Other
Stories. Photo taken by Teri Olsen.

Although Kling says he knows of many great German writers, Doderer is the first who really captured his attention.

“Something about him really made me want to translate him into English,” he said.
Kling is very pleased to see that his book has caught the attention of the three different foundations.

“The nominations go through the publisher, not me, so I don’t know if there is any money or anything involved,” Kling said.

The book is published by Ariadne Press, which specializes in printing translated Austrian literature. Due to a limited budget, only a small number of editions have been printed. Kling hopes that Doderer’s book will receive more publicity and become better known if he wins any of the three prizes for which he has been nominated.

Kling said he has always fantasized about being a translator. A professor during his graduate studies first interested him in translating, but he did not think his dream would become a reality. Later on, when a fellow professor at La Salle translated a book, Kling was inspired to act upon his long-time dream. He said he decided that if this other professor could translate a novel, then he could also give it a try.

According to Kling, translating novels is not solely about the words.

“Translators have to capture not just the meaning of the words, but the form of the literature as well,” he said.

Kling believes it was his studies of ancient languages, especially Latin, Old English and Archaic German, that forced him to think in terms of forms and shapes—thus giving him the mentality of a translator.

In order to help others understand the complexity involved in the art of translating, Kling has supplied an example from his book. The excerpt is from Doderer’s The Trumpets of Jericho. The following lines show how a translator must interpret and arrange the words in such a way as to preserve the original form of the literature, which is especially difficult if the lines rhyme.

Gewaltat gegen Unbekannte
Löscht Feuer ehe es noch brannte.

Violent deeds against men you don’t know
Extinguish a fire before its first glow.

Die epigrammatische Faust erledigt
Was uns sonst gründlicher beschädigt.

The epigrammatical fist will attend to
Threats our weak natures might otherwise bend to.

olsent1@lasalle.edu