In 2019 the Oxford German Network and New Books in German collaborated in holding a national translation competition for UK undergraduates, as part of the annual Oxford German Olympiad. The Olympiad was inaugurated in 2013 as a nationwide initiative to inspire learners of German in UK schools to look beyond the curriculum. While the first round each year is devoted to a wide variety of tasks on a key theme for school-age learners – in 2019 this was ‘Tiere und Monster’ (Animals and Monsters), a second round of competitions offers prizes in collaboration with other organisations also for undergraduates and postgraduates.
New Books in German is a joint initiative by the foreign ministries of Austria, Germany and Switzerland and other organisations to promote German-language literature. Books reviewed in the twice-yearly magazine are guaranteed funding for translation into English. Entrants for the prize were asked to produce a translation into English of Chapter One of Das Eidechsenkind (The Lizard Child) by the Swiss writer Vincenzo Todisco, and a commentary explaining points of interest and indicating any particular translation difficulties they encountered.
The winning entry was submitted by Beth Molyneux, now in her second year at Lincoln College, Oxford. A veteran Olympiad participant, she won Third Prize in the 2017 German Classic Prize competition with an essay on Goethe’s Faust. Read this interview with Beth by Katrin Kohl, Professor of German and Director of the Oxford German Network.
Katrin: When did you start learning German?
Beth: I began studying German when I started high school. I had never had any exposure to the language before, but I had a fantastic teacher who was clearly passionate about all things German, and noticed my natural interest in languages. I had the same teacher pretty much all through high school and she never failed to stretch and challenge me.
Katrin: Have you taken part in language competitions previously? If so, which?
Beth: While I was in school I took part in the Olympiad. In year 8 a small group of us made a video of Hänsel und Gretel, which we’d had great fun filming, but it wasn’t until I was in year 12 and thinking seriously about how I could broaden my German outside of the school curriculum that I thought about the Olympiad again. I fell in love with the competition and entered as many categories as I could! I also entered the German Classic Prize in Year 13, alongside taking part in other parts of the Olympiad again.
Katrin: Have you translated anything before?
Beth: Before coming to university I had had a go at translating some poetry for the Stephen Spender competition, but other than that I was relatively inexperienced. In fact, it was my study of translation at Oxford that first got me interested in literary translation.
Katrin: How did you meet the challenges posed by the passage?
Beth: I found the accompanying commentary a really useful tool because it gave me space to justify my decisions while also forcing me to think about what I was doing and the thought processes I was going through. I find the best way to deal with tricky translations is to try and find the fun in them – once you start to get a bit creative with your use of English, they feel less like challenges and more like puzzles which it’s interesting to figure out. And when you do find a solution which you think works, it’s really satisfying.
Katrin: What are you currently studying?
I’m reading French and German at Lincoln College. In German we recently studied the Sturm und Drang and Romanticism, and I also looked in detail at Heinrich von Kleist’s short stories. In French I’m studying mostly 19th-century novels, alongside some 20th-century theatre.
Katrin: What motivated your choice?
Beth: I had always been a big reader and loved English literature. Once I got to high school I took naturally to languages, so that by the time I got to making university choices, there was never really any question that I was going to study French and German. I love the idea that I’ll be able to go to France and Germany and experience the local culture in a more meaningful way than if I was held back by language, but also that I’ve been able to broaden the scope of fantastic literature which I can access and appreciate.
Katrin: What are you particularly enjoying about Oxford?
Beth: In terms of the course, I have particularly enjoyed getting to know some of the challenges of literary translation, and on the literature side of things I love having the chance to take in all the fascinating things lecturers and tutors have to say, while at the same time being able to develop my own readings and ideas about texts. I also think the city is just a fabulous place to be, to live and work.
Katrin: What have you read in German which you would recommend to A-level students?
Beth: After reading Der Vorleser by Bernhard Schlink for A-level, I tried Liebesfluchten by the same author and absolutely loved it!
Katrin: What are your plans for the year abroad?
Beth: I’m hoping to spend the period October to December in Germany in order to be there around Christmas time, and then potentially study in Paris for a semester. This summer I spent a month as an au pair and really enjoyed it, so I will probably do that again as it was an especially immersive experience.
Katrin: Do you have any ideas yet for what you want to do in the long term?
Beth: I would definitely like to live and work in France and Germany for some time. I’m not exactly sure what industry I want to go into, but am considering careers in a charity or an NGO - potentially something related to education or the environment. I still have lots of options, but would ultimately like to do something which is having a positive impact on the world!
Read the chapter from Vincenzo Todisco’s Das Eidechsenkind which Beth translated here:
http://www.ogn.ox.ac.uk/files/todisco_-_das_eidechsenkind_0.pdf
And here you will find Beth’s translation and commentary: