Ifigenia Botouropoulou

Good afternoon, Mrs. Botouropoulou.

Good afternoon.

We are very pleased to have you with us today for this interview.

The pleasure is all mine.

First of all, was it a lifelong dream to be involved in translation?

Here’s what happened: When I was a child, my mother, instead of telling us stories for children, she narrated us Eugénie Grandet or Brothers Karamazov. And I asked her, at the age of six, to learn French to be able to read French books on my own. So, on the one hand, I learned French very early and, on the other, translation was indeed my great love. Later, I followed another path, I became a professor at university and taught History of Culture. But I have never stopped translating all these years.

Has the image of translation you had before you got involved in it changed now?

Yes. What I can say with great certainty is that today there are much better translations. That is, I see the difference between a classic literary work that was translated, let’s say, in the ’50s and how it is translated today. Today’s translations are much better. I also like that translators add either an addendum or references or a biography of the author, and I think that’s a plus in translated books.

How do you feel when you translate? Do you enjoy it or do you just do it because it’s your job?

I’m lucky enough to translate because I love it. And what involuntarily happens to me is that I get into the story very much. I recently translated a book about the abuse of a woman, and I had nightmares in my sleep at night, I mean, I was so much into the story that it sort of became my personal affair! I think you’re very close to the story you’re translating, because otherwise you won’t be able to do a good translation.

So that’s also what you enjoy.

I enjoy it a lot. And these difficulties of translation, which are incredible in many cases, are a bet with oneself and with all the background knowledge that one has. In addition, you always learn new things. You are forced to learn things you don’t know many times. Even at an old age, as in my case. I still learn things while translating a book.

So there is always something new to discover.

Yes, and I think that’s very important for the translator. It makes you very humble when you continuously find out that there are things you don’t know, and that’s the mindset one should have when starting work. I’m going to do a translation, I’m going to put all my effort and all my knowledge into it, and I’m going to learn things.

So it’s a constant challenge.

Yes, it’s a constant challenge and a great pleasure when this book has an impact on the audience and the translation is acknowledged and people tell you, “I didn’t have the feeling that I was reading a translated book”. That is the greatest compliment.

Besides being a translator, have you also been involved in writing?

I have written books concerning my work as a professor. Yes. The author I deal with is Ernest Renan. There’s a house in Brittany that he lived in, which hosted many transients, many intellectuals in his time and then this house also hosted various transients in the time of Psycharis, because he was Renan’s son-in-law. A lot of famous Greeks passed by there. And I wrote about the history of this house. It’s my last piece of writing.

Which literary genre do you most enjoy translating?

Well, in my youth, I translated psychoanalysis. I did that mainly to test myself and because it was a project that was suggested to me. I tested myself and I succeeded. But I prefer literature and I like books from which a message comes across. I wouldn’t be interested in a book with a sentimental, simple story. I like novels that have a social or political message.

Do you have any other occupation besides translation? You already said you worked in the academic field.

Yes, I finished my academic career, but I continue to teach in MAs as a professor emerita because there is a shortage of professors in universities. I translate and I am also involved in a European project in Paris, at the French National Centre for Scientific Research [CNRS], where an international team of scholars is restoring Ernest Renan’s manuscripts. They are written in pencil and they are slowly fading away. There is a collaboration between the Bibliothèque nationale which has the manuscripts and the CNRS which has researchers and the City of Paris pays for them. We are transcribing the manuscripts which will be uploaded digitized at the Bibliothèque nationale. These are my activities.

Are you a member of a professional translators’ association?

No, I am not.

What would you say about the financial rewards of the profession?

I’d say I’ve been fortunate so far to receive very good fees. I have collaborated with publishers who understand the hard work of a translator and I have been paid very well.

So your relationship with publishers has been good so far.

Yes, I’ve been lucky enough to collaborate with good publishers. I wouldn’t like to tell you who they are; I guess there’s no point, but, yes, they appreciated the hard work, because it is hard work. It’s not a simple job.

Does the same apply to the editors of your translations?

I don’t know much about that. I only know about one publishing house, where they have decided that they are going to do their job very well and they pay the editors and the people who do the pagination and everybody involved. But I only have one such example.

Has an editor happened to change something in your translation without you knowing it?

No, that has never happened. I’ve always been asked. And I’ve always read the final proof. Yes. I’ve been lucky in that respect, I can say.

You’re lucky.

Yes.

How do you see the future of translation in Greece?

Well, although we say that we are living in a period of financial crisis, I see that culture is not of lower quality. Very good books continue to be published, there are many qualified translators now, and I am very optimistic about the future of translators.

You mentioned before the difficulties of translation. Could you give us an example of something you have found difficult to translate?

Yes. I recently translated a novel about a commune. That is, how the financial crisis forces different groups of people of a different age to live together on a farm. There are seven, eight people. The protagonist of the book, who narrates the story, and a friend of his are both elderly. His friend, who’s involved in flowers, combines people’s names and flowers to characterize the individuals. It was a real conundrum for me, because I didn’t know how to render that without the pun losing, so to speak, its significance and authenticity. But in the end I found a solution. I think I did it.

Did you reach out to anyone else to help you?

To many, not one, and everyone was making suggestions and, between laughs and serious talking, we finally found a solution, yes.

How do you deal with problems regarding cultural elements?

Well, that was my field at university, I taught History of Culture, and I deal with them – how can I put it? – with knowledge, with fear, and I think we have to cope with all the difficulties, without offending, without provoking. I try to be close to reality, close to the text, and not to provoke.

Yes, when there are two different cultures, it’s difficult.

Yes, and you have to be very careful in the choice of words, because someone can be offended. That shouldn’t happen, because a translation is a transfer of one culture to another. And I sincerely believe that it should be a plus, a vehicle to help peoples reach each other, rather than divide them.

So that they come closer.

Yes.

Despite all your efforts not to offend anyone, have you ever received any criticism?

No. No, it hasn’t happened to me so far.

And lastly, what would you say to those who want to study translation, to go into translation professionally?

I think the main thing is that you have to love this job very much to do it and not always think about how much money I’m going to get or, I don’t know… The future is uncertain for the translator when they have translation as their exclusive profession. That’s why most of them have two or three jobs. But I think one should follow one’s vision – it is a vision to be a translator – and I think we should all follow our vision.

Do you think it is difficult or impossible to make a living from translation only?

I believe it is difficult in this day and age, but I think in the end, everyone finds a way to do something else too and remain in the field, continue being a translator. Yes. I mean, I want to hope that there will be no lack of good translators because of the crisis or because they can’t get the fee they want. I want to hope that good translations and good translators will continue to exist, because translation is one of the most important vehicles of culture, we have no other common ground. Especially those of us who speak Greek. If we don’t know foreign languages, we are cut off. Who speaks Greek? We are 10 million people, we have to try to bring other cultures into Greek.

So you think that the key is to keep it in motion.

Certainly. To improve ourselves, to attend… I think that book fairs and the panels and discussions that take place are very meaningful and bring a better result every year. Translators’ meetings are being organized but above all, the translator’s profession is being upgraded. In other words, when there is a whole discussion about translation, I consider this to be a victory. It didn’t use to happen before, translators were the most underpaid, the most subservient in the book business. But today there is no such feeling at all. Even if the fees are low. Everyone understands what it means to translate.

Yes, because translation brings cultures and peoples together.

It’s the most important thing. I think translation work is very important. Not only in literature, but also in the scientific field.

Everywhere.

Yes, everywhere.

I think that’s the end of our interview. Thank you very much for this wonderful conversation.

I thank you too and I hope that translation has a great future.

So do we.