science

The Translation

The Translation is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Translation rather than just read about it. In short: "The Translation" is a short story by Joyce Carol Oates, appearing in TriQuarterly (Fall 1977). The work was first collected in Night-Side: Eighteen Tales (1977) by Vanguard Press.

Key takeaways

The Translation belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Translation to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Translation from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

"The Translation" is a short story by Joyce Carol Oates, appearing in TriQuarterly (Fall 1977). The work was first collected in Night-Side: Eighteen Tales (1977) by Vanguard Press.

Plot "The Translation" is told in the third-person omniscient point-of-view. The focal character is Oliver. The 40-something Oliver is an American lexicographer who is attending conferences on the subject at conferences in an unnamed European Eastern bloc country. His translator, Liebert, is a younger local man with whom he forms an intimate camaraderie. At one such gathering, Oliver, a normally undemonstrative and restrained individual, is introduced to a young woman and university student, Alisa. He falls in love during their 15-minute exchange facilitated by his translator. She reputedly speaks Italian and German, but not a word of English. According to Leibert, she is also an accomplished violinist. When Oliver presses for information on her profile, he is informed that Alisa is separated from his husband, an elderly doctor. Concerned that the woman has a troubled existence, Oliver fantasizes about rescuing her from a repressive political state. Designated a "cultural emissary" by the US State Department, he feels emboldened to do so. Another meeting with Alisa is arranged...and another. At each rendezvous, presided over by the ever-present Liebert, Oliver finds Alisa's responses to his questions and comments increasingly charming, and the depth of her insights impressive. He declares his love for her through his translator. Through Leibert, a tryst is arranged at Alisa's apartment. Money exchanges hands and he spends one night with her. The next morning Oliver discovers that Leibert has been replaced with another male translator, not to his liking. Shortly thereafter, he prepares to depart for America. At the airport he cries out in despair: "What will I do for the rest of my life...?"

Theme Describing the premise of "The Translation" as "intriguing", critic Robert Phillips, the protagonist is blinded by his desperate desire for his beloved, who persona is filtered and conditioned by a scheming translator. Literary critic Greg Johnson identifies "The Translation" as a Jamesian-influenced story that reworks the American author's "international theme". The least Gothic of the works in Night-Side volume, "The Translation" involves not supernatural elements but rather "a dark alter ego"—the theme of the doppelganger. The protagonist, Oliver, is confronted by "a painful and unexpected self-recognition", namely, his failure to discover "love and a meaningful life". The only "supernatural" elements in the narrative are the exquisitely deceptive translations that conjure up the object of Oliver's infatuation: the largely fictional Alisa. So penetrating are Leibert's "false translations" they conger up Oliver's idealization of Alisa: "Surely it was magic."

Footnotes

Sources Johnson, Greg. 1994. Joyce Carol Oates: A Study of the Short Fiction. Twayne's studies in short fiction; no. 57. Twayne Publishers, New York. ISBN 0-8057-0857-X Oates, Joyce Carol. 1977. Night-Side: Eighteen Tales. Vanguard Press, New York. ISBN 9780814907931 Phillips, Robert. Night-Side. Commonweal, in Critical Essays on Joyce Carol Oates. 1979. pp. 42–43: by Linda W. Wagner. G. K. Hall & Co., Boston, Massachusetts. ISBN 0-8161-8224-8

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Translation

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Translation claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Translation before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Translation ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Translation

In research: The Translation appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Translation in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Translation is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1977 English-language short stories, 1977 short stories, Short stories by Joyce Carol Oates, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Translation outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Translation in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Translation means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Translation out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Translation in simple terms?

"The Translation" is a short story by Joyce Carol Oates, appearing in TriQuarterly (Fall 1977). The work was first collected in Night-Side: Eighteen Tales (1977) by Vanguard Press.

Why does The Translation matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Translation?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Translation.