Interview with Marianna Tsatsou

Interview-Marianna Tsatsou
Translator

You recently translated the Love Letters of Albert Einstein and Mileva Marić, who later became his wife. How did you end up working on this project?

Sometimes I think that there is a single moment when everything just comes together. My passion for books and literary translation had not been fulfilled before the Letters, besides the work I did during my graduate and post-graduate studies. Back then I had realised that for me, translation as a form of creative expression was not only a pleasant occupation, but it gave me what I could only describe as rushes of happiness. Then, on a summer morning, my phone rang; on the other end of the line was a good colleague from Thessaloniki, who suggested this collaboration with the upcoming ROPI publishing house, which has a lot to offer to the discriminating Greek reading public. A few days later, we started working on the translation of Albert Einstein and Mileva Marić´s love letters.

You may read your work upwards of 10, 11 or 12 times, but you’ll always vacillate, you’ll always think you must read it one more time…

What can you tell us about your first experience with literary translation?

Although my previous exercises, dealings with or attempts at literary translation as a student had quite a few common elements with the real working conditions of a literary translator, the two are in many ways different. In the academic sphere, we try to keep the spirit of the work free; this is also true in a professional setting, but the main difference is that in university we never reach a single, final version. As a professional, you must translate bearing in mind that the version you deliver to the publisher and, as a result, to the reader will remain on the pages of the book forever and cannot be open to interpretation.

You feel obliged to honour the original work and its author, while at the same time staying loyal to the translation and its reader. You may read your work upwards of 10, 11 or 12 times, but you’ll always vacillate, you’ll always think you must read it one more time… The more time passes between each re-reading of your translation, the more ways you’ll find to improve its style. In this case, my goal was to fully grasp the two lovers’ writing style and try to find the right means to express it to the Greek readers, while concealing my “intermediation” as much as possible. In general, I have come to realise that literary translators must learn to work in two “gears”: one aspect of our work entails freedom, creativity, free thinking, whereas the other is all about rigour, the ability to limit one’s own thinking and interpretation and let the voice of the original authors emerge through the pages.

What are some interesting and formerly unknown aspects of Einstein’s life and personality that are revealed in the Love Letters?

Einstein is a well-known personality across the world. Although it’s been so many years since his death, his life and work still attract a great deal of interest. I personally thought I knew a lot about him before I started working on the Love Letters; however, I soon realised that a lot of the information circulating the internet is very far from reality. No one can question Einstein’s scientific achievements; however, the letters reveal new aspects of his personality, which will take many readers aback. For example, how did Einstein behave as a young man in love? He was definitely not an ideal husband, to put it mildly. He also caused a great deal of trouble to his bourgeois parents due to his “bohemian” lifestyle. He often quarrelled with his professors and he never hesitated to openly express his disagreement with work published by his fellow scientists, never minding the cost his strong opinions would have on his career.

Despite his boldness in these issues, he was not as brave when it came to Marić’s pregnancy. While she was pregnant with their first —illegitimate— child, Lieserl, risking her studies and reputation, he was simply indifferent. We only found out about his daughter from the Letters and we still know very little about her life. Had the letters not been discovered stacked in a drawer somewhere, her existence would have been forgotten forever, as would Einstein’s decision not to risk a job opportunity in Bern for his illegitimate child; after all, it had been a long time since his last job offer. As far as I’m concerned, the lesser known story of Marić’s life is particularly interesting. Although not all her letters survive, as A.E. threw many of them in the trash, she is a very interesting historical figure (a new book on Mileva Marić will soon come out from ROPI editions and will hopefully shed some light on this often overlooked personality).

What did you find most challenging in this translation? Were the difficulties mostly related to factual elements or style?

Although translating letters is a relatively simple task, when those letters are exchanged between two scientists in love, things get complicated. From a factual point of view, I had to pay special attention to the translation of names, nicknames, academic titles and places, as I often had to decide whether to translate them or simply transcribe them to the Greek alphabet. The physics terminology mentioned in the letters also required thorough study, and there was a great deal of intertextuality. Einstein’s thinking was totally anarchic, and he often jumped between entirely unconnected subjects.

As for style, a great deal of creative thinking was necessary to do justice to the German puns and make sure they don’t get “lost in translation”.  Finally, despite being a disciple of science, Einstein could be quite lyrical when in love. He wrote verses for his lover, taking care of rhythm and rhyme. Thankfully, they centred on simple subjects and were quite playful, making the task of translating them somewhat easier. Another aspect I had to pay special attention to was the familiar tone between the two classmates, which gradually became more and more familiar, as did their relationship. This range of emotions has to be reflected in the translation as well.

In your opinion, what are the difficulties of translating texts such as these, written in completely different times, from both a historical and a social perspective?

In these cases, translators have to mentally transport themselves to another era. This means they have to avoid words or expressions that may come to mind, but are more modern than the text they’re translating, to re-write the original in a way that fits with another historical context. Furthermore, they must study the lives of the correspondents and their time. In this particular translation, the clothes worn during the period, society’s expectations, the honorifics that were used between people of the same age and even between parents and children, the translation of place names and even people’s names that are most likely unfamiliar to the Greek public, with the purpose of keeping the authors’ «country of origin» alive without creating confusion for the reader, were only some of the challenges that I had to face. Thankfully, these issues are easily solved with the right attitude and persistence, and with the help of worthy colleagues that are every translator’s “safety net”.