The Translation Committee of the PEN American Center has drafted these guidelines to highlight aspects of a translation that deserve critical attention in book reviews. We are prompted to do so by the neglect of our art in periodical reviews of translated literature. All too often, the name of the translator is absent from the body of the review; where his or her work is credited, it is generally dispensed with through a single adverb. This practice both marginalizes the translator and misrepresents the work under review.

Translators play an indispensable role in bringing the literature of other languages and cultures to readers of another language. Every word, sentence, and punctuation mark represents a deliberate choice by the translator in the attempt to capture not only meaning but also nuance—structure, idiom, diction, rhythm, tone, voice—not simply the letter of the original but also its spirit. The translator has to balance the characteristics and idiosyncrasies of the original text with the norms of proper English usage and the occasional need to violate them.

A reviewer should state that the work is a translation and give the translator’s name. The translator’s previous work, and perhaps awards or other distinctions, might also be mentioned. While the reviewer may feel unqualified to evaluate the translation by comparison to the original, he or she can certainly address matters of style, coherence, and narrative tone. Some of the other questions that might be addressed in a review are:

• How does the diction correspond to the content?

• Does the author present any stylistic challenge with which the translator has had to contend?

• In a work of fiction, is the dialogue natural? Does the tone shift to represent different characters’ voices? 

• If the work has been translated before, how does the new translation compare with earlier ones? Does it offer new insights or emphases?

• Do apparent errors represent an English mistake, a misreading of the original, or an accurate rendering of a provocation/anomaly in the original?