The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Does LotR have cross-cultural appeal?

Lalwendë · 08-09-2005, 01:20 PM

I'm certain that the whole subject of translation does have an important bearing on whether a book becomes popular worldwide. It may be that one country does not ahve access to good translations as H-I has said happened in Georgia while another country may be 'blessed' with particularly good versions. I would guess that many countries are just like the UK and that the majority of the population do not possess a decent enough knowledge of a foreign language to tackle a book as long and complex as LotR if it is not in their native tongue. So those people would rely on good translations.

I particularly love Goethe's Faust and I got hold of a very old copy in the original German to see if it was any better in the original; I took German up to the age of 18 but my knowledge was nowhere near good enough to tackle Faust. In addition, I have never used the language practically so I was unable to read it.

In practical terms I can imagine it is much the same for other people wanting to read something 'in the original language'. I have known many people who have taught themselves English through sheer determination just to read a book or enjoy pop music better (I even know one woman who learned English via MTV - the mind boggles) but it does take a huge amount of effort and possibly natural talent, sadly.

Considering those who are English speaking but from different cultural backgrounds, there could be other factors to take into consideration. Maybe there are a lot of Tolkien fans who are from different backgrounds, but it might simply be that they do not use forums such as this. In my experience, not many British people of Asian descent use internet forums (at least not the ones I use, and they are not all specialised like this), but I think this may have a lot to do with the 'digital divide' and the lack of opportunity to get access to the net.

One thing that does interest me is whether people from different backgrounds/ages get different things from the story, e.g. do they enjoy it as a simple adventure, do they appreciate the action more than the description, and so on? Is there something about your personality (as oppsed to your background) that might 'pre-dispose' you to be a Rings fan?

08-09-2005, 01:20 PM	#17
Lalwendë A Mere Boggart Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: under the bed Posts: 4,737	I'm certain that the whole subject of translation does have an important bearing on whether a book becomes popular worldwide. It may be that one country does not ahve access to good translations as H-I has said happened in Georgia while another country may be 'blessed' with particularly good versions. I would guess that many countries are just like the UK and that the majority of the population do not possess a decent enough knowledge of a foreign language to tackle a book as long and complex as LotR if it is not in their native tongue. So those people would rely on good translations. I particularly love Goethe's Faust and I got hold of a very old copy in the original German to see if it was any better in the original; I took German up to the age of 18 but my knowledge was nowhere near good enough to tackle Faust. In addition, I have never used the language practically so I was unable to read it. In practical terms I can imagine it is much the same for other people wanting to read something 'in the original language'. I have known many people who have taught themselves English through sheer determination just to read a book or enjoy pop music better (I even know one woman who learned English via MTV - the mind boggles) but it does take a huge amount of effort and possibly natural talent, sadly. Considering those who are English speaking but from different cultural backgrounds, there could be other factors to take into consideration. Maybe there are a lot of Tolkien fans who are from different backgrounds, but it might simply be that they do not use forums such as this. In my experience, not many British people of Asian descent use internet forums (at least not the ones I use, and they are not all specialised like this), but I think this may have a lot to do with the 'digital divide' and the lack of opportunity to get access to the net. One thing that does interest me is whether people from different backgrounds/ages get different things from the story, e.g. do they enjoy it as a simple adventure, do they appreciate the action more than the description, and so on? Is there something about your personality (as oppsed to your background) that might 'pre-dispose' you to be a Rings fan? __________________ Gordon's alive!