Just got a copy of a great review of my translation of Lazarillo and El Buscón, by someone who really got what I was trying to do!
The review, by Jennifer Allison Darrell of King’s College in Pennsylvania, is published in Hispania, vol. 99, no. 3, September 2016. It starts with an appreciation of my introduction:
Frye distills a complex and turbulent period of Spanish history into an overview that navigates expertly between the Scylla of too much information and the Charybdis of facile simplification, and is at once both substantive and manageable. The events and customs he chooses to elucidate (e.g., Spanish naming customs or currency equivalents) illuminate the nuances of the picaresque works in question, and his rendering of the complexities of these novels and their cultural context in terms accessible to the uninitiated is a laudable accomplishment.
The reviewer also liked the translation:
Frye’s translation represents a considerable achievement of skill and discretion, striking the balance between relevance and authenticity, and rendering the picaresque novels in dynamic, modern English that preserves the verbal dexterity, satirical spirit, and mixed registers found in the original Spanish. The most noteworthy element of Frye’s edition is his deft and judicious incorporation of contemporary popular cultural references as a means of explaining aspects of Spanish Golden Age society that might otherwise have remained obscure to the modern American reader. Throughout both the introduction and the footnotes, familiar elements from pop culture, such as The Onion and the Three Stooges, serve as analogies for cultural equivalents in the Spanish Golden Age, taking Frye’s work beyond the level of mere linguistic translation and rendering it a cultural translation as well.
“A cultural translation” — that’s exactly what I was trying to do!
Frye does the essential and invaluable work of bridging the necessary linguistic and cultural barriers so as to pave a way for a new generation of readers to engage with and enjoy Lazarillo de Tormes and El Buscón.
All I can say is, thanks!
