"This happened to me in 2009, when I read The Original of Laura-which consists of unedited fragments of Vladimir Nabokov's unfinished last novel-and noticed that, after 35 years of writing in English, the author had still struggled to spell bicycle. I had imagined Nabokov's leap away from Russian, his native language, as an instantaneous, effortless transformation, but now I realized that it must have been an ongoing struggle-one that enhanced his dazzlingly precise fiction."
"In his essay, Benjamin, who has translated Franz Kafka's diaries and other major German-language works into English, tallies up the potential costs of a world in which AirPods can translate between languages in real time. For example: AI translation might accelerate the trend of fewer Americans learning second languages outside the home. One in five U.S. households, however, does speak another language inside the home-and mine was among them."
Reading The Original of Laura revealed that after 35 years of writing in English Vladimir Nabokov still struggled to spell "bicycle", suggesting an ongoing linguistic struggle that informed his precise fiction. Ross Benjamin has translated major German-language works and enumerates potential costs of real-time AirPod-style translation. AI-powered translation could accelerate a decline in Americans learning second languages outside the home. One in five U.S. households speaks another language. Nabokov produced major works in Russian and later in English, and his English retained a strange, original quality rather than perfect assimilation.
Read at The Atlantic
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