From 6 pm to 7:30 pm on November 18, NYU Literary Translation: French to English alumnus Patrick Stancil read and discussed his translation of Cyrille Martinez’s The Sleepworker which was published on October 14, 2014 by Coach House Press.
Patrick was joined by the program’s director Emmanuelle Ertel who read excerpts from the original French text followed by Patrick’s reading of the English translation. Emmanuelle followed the reading with some questions for Patrick about his translation process and experience with this book. Patrick and Emmanuelle read a couple of more excerpts, and then the audience asked Patrick some of their own questions.
Through both Emmanuelle and Patrick’s discussion and the discussion with the audience, the audience was able to gain a better understanding about translation work in general and Patrick’s personal translation experience.
Patrick discovered this book while he was pursuing his MA at NYU and a classmate of his recommended the book to him, and he was drawn in by the “scandalous” nature of the book. The book is loosely based off Andy Warhol and John Giorno and their film Sleep; however, Patrick did not research Andy Warhol or John Girono because he didn’t want any research he would have done to influence the overall translation of the book since it is only loosely based off of these two men.
There were a few difficulties Patrick encountered while translating The Sleepwalker. He said one of the most difficult things was finding or creating words that were made-up words in the French text. Another difficulty with the translation of the book was that there was not a clear overall plot.
One difficulty Patrick did not have to work through was translating the title. The original title of the book, Deux jeunes artistes au chômage, was already translated to The Sleepworkers by an employee at the French Publishers’ Agency. Patrick said that he did not want to change the title once he decided to translate the book because when he read the book, that’s what the title was, so to him, the book was already entitled The Sleepworkers.
Patrick also discussed the role the author, Cyrille Martinez, played in the translation process. Although Martinez speaks little English, he was present in the translation process. Patrick was able to talk to him about questions he had regarding the text, specifically those regarding the tone of the text.
Martinez also went to Toronto, Canada with Patrick for the launch party of the book which was a pajama themed party because of the title, The Sleepworker. Patrick said that because of the amount of time he spent working with the English text during the editing and translation process, the text started to feel like his own, and in an way it is. He realizes that the story and content are Martinez’s, but the English version is his.
It was fun to hear about everything Patrick has experienced with this translation, including when he saw his book at a New York City bookstore and an employee told him they are ordering more copies. Congratulations on your publication, Patrick!
French and the city 