Martial's Epigrams

I have always been frustrated by overly academic translations of Latin literature—translators seem to get away with lots of “translatese” in the name of academia. But I wanted to knock the Latin language off its pedestal and give it a fair shot at accessing our contemporary English, and there was no better person to start with than the epigrammist Martial, who’s wit and snark could have been said by an insult artist today. In this vein, I have translated some of Martial’s epigrams into tweets, accompanied by a more “conventional” literary translation.

Why Tweets? Much of Martial’s humor in the Latin lies in the unexpected contrast between the highly formal structure of his epigrams with the lowly or crass subject matter. Other translators have used iambic pentameter, heroic couplets, or other rhyme schemes and meters to translate his epigrams. Some have done well in these modes, but often times the irony is lost. English meter doesn’t quite substitute for the quantitative meters used in Latin, rhyme is out of place and unwarranted.

So I began to brainstorm ways in which witty people communicate their thoughts today, and Twitter seemed an obvious choice. People rarely ever pick up a book of Oscar Wilde’s witticisms to pass the time, but rather they’re constantly scrolling through various apps on their phones. We’re more accustomed to reading a couple tweets while we wait on line, quickly “like” a friend’s clever status. The tweet, constrained by 140 characters and with its own conventions of @-replies and hashtags, was just limiting enough and familiar enough that it feels comparable to Martial’s use of Latin meter; it incites both comfort and shock. We are no longer constrained by the square of stone on which to carve a dedication, but by the bits and bytes that transmit our texts and tweets. 

I want Martial’s epigrams to retain their “bite.” They seem pleasant and conventional, until the last line when he turns it around. At his best, you can’t quite tell if he’s served a compliment or an insult. He’s that friend who says something with a smile on his face, and it’s not until after you’ve walked away that you realize he wasn’t very nice. But he’s just so clever, and his “internet presence” (anthology of epigrams) is just so well crafted you can’t help but hitting “like” every time one comes up on your newsfeed.

There are two ways you can read my translations. First, there is a tumblr blog, which you can play around with and explore. (http://notatwar.tumblr.com/) Everything is organized in “hashtags” at the bottom of the posts. You can view all the posts from “#twitter” or you can click on the number of the epigram “#2.12” to see a new page with all the information linked to that poem. The tumblr is a recent idea, so it is not as full as I’d like it to be, but all the material relevant to the workshop is on there. Also, if you happen to have a tumblr and wish to comment or respond in that way, feel free! Second, I have attached a PDF of all the material if you’d like something to print out and take notes on, or if you have limited access to the internet.

I am currently most concerned about finding the right register for the translations. As you will probably note, the translations vary quite a bit from grammatically correct to low-brow contemporary “slang.” Which moments work and when do I start sounding like your dad trying to use the internet?  Also, if you have any feedback about the digital media I’ve decided to use, I’d love to hear it. 

Thanks, and have fun playing around!