As to translations. I did a course during honours year. We usually read four or five different translations of the one work, and they were often very different, to the point that the meaning was often subtly changed, or even bits left out (or added?)
That's an interesting approach. Reading multiple translations (although tedious) might lead to a better synthesis of the overall content. In an academic setting, this method makes a lot of sense.
To be clearer, we often read different versions of a work. They all seemed to be translations. The Faustus legend, for example: Marlowe, Mann, Goethe, even Lord Byron's "Manfred". Also things like Antigone. A book I reviewed recently, Home Fire, is an Antigone story, for example
That's an interesting approach. Reading multiple translations (although tedious) might lead to a better synthesis of the overall content. In an academic setting, this method makes a lot of sense.
To be clearer, we often read different versions of a work. They all seemed to be translations. The Faustus legend, for example: Marlowe, Mann, Goethe, even Lord Byron's "Manfred". Also things like Antigone. A book I reviewed recently, Home Fire, is an Antigone story, for example