Amanda Gorman’s Dutch translator pulls out amid uproar she’s not black

[MrMoe]

I did extensive, but hitherto unspecified research.

Are you being serious? Because you're basically calling the activist a liar.

It's not racism for a white person to translate a black authors text.

I agree.

ESPECIALLY when the black author herself agrees with that white person.

I agree.

The real person you are attacking here is Amanda Gorman herself. What's the matter? Is she suddenly no longer okay with you, just because she asked a white person to do something a black person could do?

You completely missed the point of this thread. I'm perfectly fine with Amanda Gorman's choice. It's other people like this activist who have a problem with Amanda's choice. That is why I made this thread.

What's the end game here? Total segregation of literature?

That is the right question to ask these people.

 

[*Starlight*]

I did extensive, but hitherto unspecified research.

It's not racism for a white person to translate a black authors text. ESPECIALLY when the black author herself agrees with that white person.

The real person you are attacking here is Amanda Gorman herself. What's the matter? Is she suddenly no longer okay with you, just because she asked a white person to do something a black person could do?

What's the end game here? Total segregation of literature?

I think you two are actually agreeing with each other, it just seems to be a misunderstanding. You're both saying it's ridiculous that some internet people criticized the translator's skin color. It's those weird people who are racist here.

But why did the translator actually listen to the racists? Maybe the whole controversy is just made up to increase sales.

 

[MrMoe]

Ah, I see. Activist on social media says many others, then it must mean many others.

Well, yes. They gave me no reason to doubt them. Do you automatically not believe anything an activist on social media says?

I'm sure there is a groundswell of people that were all talking about this story before this single activist made noise on Twitter. It was a frenetic discussion, this activist was just among many calling things out...

Using sarcasm doesn't automatically debunk another person's claim.

A single activist on Twitter is emblematic of nothing.

Except the translator themselves also stated it was more than one person.

“I am shocked by the uproar surrounding my involvement in the spread of Amanda Gorman’s message and I understand the people who feel hurt by Meulenhoff’s choice to ask me,”

I'm noting you're fixation on the number of people and ignoring the obvious racism, transphobia and ageism, from the activist, which is completely out of character for you.

 

[Nithavela]

Are you being serious?

No.

 

[Nithavela]

But why did the translator actually listen to the racists?

Because when you don't bend to the internet hate machine, the internet hate machine bends you.

 

[SummerMadness]

I'm noting you're fixation on the number of people and ignoring the obvious racism, transphobia and ageism, from the activist, which is completely out of character for you.

Ah yes, someone claiming to know my character so well.

Keep treating this as if it is a real controversy outside the realm of Twitter.

 

[MrMoe]

Ah yes, someone claiming to know my character so well.

I have been watching this sub forum for years and the majority of your threads have been about racism. So the fact that you are now avoiding acknowledging the obvious racism in your replies is indeed very out of character.

Keep treating this as if it is a real controversy outside the realm of Twitter.

. Neither articles state the uproar was solely on Twitter, so there is no way of you knowing that.

. You say this as if it somehow makes the racism less worse.

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

And another...

Amanda Gorman's Catalan translator dropped because of 'profile'

This does seem to be getting a little out of hand. Ms. Gorman hand selected the Dutch translator. That should have been the end of that right there no matter who complained.

Now this guy's work is said to not be quite right by the publisher for similar reasons.

I think these people are digging themselves into a hole that will be difficult for even "The Left" to help them out of once they realize their mistake. Or maybe a box analogy? Boxing themselves in and sealing their fate. Something like that. I mean, I'll walk the cliff's edge and shout your protest slogan out into the canyon, but I ain't going over it with you.

 

[FireDragon76]

She's not that great a poet anyways.

It's all a big nothingburger.

 

[ranunculus]

I haven't followed any of this so this is just a hot take but from what I understand of the controversy is that according to some critics on the left, the translator wasn't 'minority enough'. The translator felt some pressure and stepped back.

I think what we've seen in the past century is that there was always plenty of grounds for social justice reform. And there's always more to do. But at some point a lot of major issues will have been addressed. But by now there's an entire segment of 'woke left' people whose entire persona is based on being woke and finding the next big social justice thing to be outraged about. And if they can't find anything substantial enough, they'll make something up. Which is what this so-called controversy looks like.

I'm willing to be completely wrong about my assessment though.

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

And another...

Amanda Gorman's Catalan translator dropped because of 'profile'

This does seem to be getting a little out of hand. Ms. Gorman hand selected the Dutch translator. That should have been the end of that right there no matter who complained.

Now this guy's work is said to not be quite right by the publisher for similar reasons.

I think these people are digging themselves into a hole that will be difficult for even "The Left" to help them out of once they realize their mistake. Or maybe a box analogy? Boxing themselves in and sealing their fate. Something like that. I mean, I'll walk the cliff's edge and shout your protest slogan out into the canyon, but I ain't going over it with you.

Agreed - this is getting stupid. They'll quickly reach the point where other translators will deem the work too political and refuse to touch it, at which point the publishers will probably whinge that they're being discriminated against.

 

[RestoreTheJoy]

Don't expect reason or logic.

They don't like her because she is white.

So the complainants are racists. 99 percent of those in the Netherlands are white, by the way.

Amanda Gorman translator pulls out amid uproar she's not black
Amanda Gorman's Dutch translator stands down after uproar that Black writer wasn't chosen

"An award-winning author has pulled out of translating inauguration poet Amanda Gorman’s work into Dutch — because of a furious uproar that a black writer was not chosen instead.

Gorman, 22, personally chose Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, the youngest winner of the International Booker prize, to translate her collection, “The Hill We Climb,” according to her Dutch publisher, Meulenhoff."


"But the choice sparked intense outrage, with journalist and activist Janice Deul writing in Volkskrant that the translator should be a “spoken-word artist, young, female and unapologetically Black.”

Deul called Rijneveld, 29, an “incomprehensible choice” whose hiring was a “missed opportunity.”

“They are white, nonbinary, have no experience in this field, but according to Meulenhoff are still the ‘dream translator’?” Deul wrote, using Rijneveld’s preferred pronouns."



This begs the questions, should only people of the same race and gender translate other people's words? What about if this gets translated in a majority non-black country such as Japan?

So racist...and unworkable. It will be difficult to find someone of every desired ethnicity to translate some languages, as you say.

 

[Ana the Ist]

So the complainants are racists. 99 percent of those in the Netherlands are white, by the way.

If they're making those complaints about someone's race....yes, they are racist.

I'm aware of the demographics.