Michael recently gave a talk about Tove Ditlevsen, and The Copenhagen Trilogy at UMass Amherst. He spoke about Ditlevsen’s life and how he first came upon her work. He also touched on the experience of translating another writer’s work. Below is the talk broken up into some of the main topics covered.
1. Introduction to The Copenhagen Trilogy
This video includes a brief synopsis of Tove Ditlevsen’s life, Michael Favala Goldman’s path to translating Dependency, the creation of The Copenhagen Trilogy, a couple of excerpts, the impact of the book on the translator, and its worldwide spread.
2. Inhabiting the Author’s Experience
Michael speaks to the emotional turbulence of Dependency spilling into his own life as he translated the book, how he dealt with it, and how it enriched him.
3. Being Deeply Touched
Michael speaks about the message of Tove Ditlesven’s short story collection, The Trouble with Happiness, and how that intersects with his mission as a translator.
4. Belonging to You Own Life
Michael speaks about the message of Tove Ditlesven’s short story collection, The Trouble with Happiness.
5. Untranslatable
Sometimes a translator comes across a word they find untranslatable. Here Michael speaks about one of these ‘untranslatable’ words from Dependency.
6. Inherently Vulnerable
Michael speaks about being inspired by Tove Ditlevsen’s ability to expose her life so completely.