Denise Kripper ‘09 returns to campus to discuss mistranslation, Latin American literature, and academia

Dr. Denise Kripper ‘09, an alumna from Argentina now working as a professor and author in Chicago, recently returned to Berlin for an alumni talk with current students. She shared her experiences working in translation and literature, pursuing a PhD, writing a dissertation, searching for post-grad jobs, and navigating through academia to professorship. The talk was facilitated by Prof. Dr. Matthias Hurst and Dr. David Hayes, two of Kripper’s former instructors whom she credits for helping shape her career.

Kripper completed an Academy Year from 2008-2009 under Bard College Berlin’s former name of ECLA, or the European College of Liberal Arts. While many things about the campus have changed in the past fifteen years—including the W15 Café replacing the residence hall where she once lived—Kripper still felt a sense of familiarity upon her return, especially when greeted with the familiar faces of long-time faculty.

Coming from working in translation in Argentina, Kripper explained that when she arrived in Berlin as an ECLA student, she wanted to “hide” her translation background and pursue other interests. However, in a course by David Hayes on The Odyssey, her experience and interest in translation was “exposed” in an essay she wrote. Hayes then encouraged her to pursue translation studies further, which provided a more theoretical side to studying translation than the mechanical translation practices she had engaged in previously.

In particular, Kripper notes that working with Hayes exposed her to the idea of “the translator” in literature—the person behind the translation—which eventually became the topic of her PhD dissertation and her 2023 book, Narratives of Mistranslation: Fictional Translators in Latin American Literature, in which she credits Hayes in the forward.

Kripper also discussed her work in literary translation of Latin American novels, particularly her recent translation of the novel Salt by Adriana Riva. Despite the conventional wisdom in translation to stick to one's native language, Kripper broke the unspoken rule and skillfully translated Salt from Spanish to English by leveraging her deep understanding of Argentine culture and life in Buenos Aires.

She discussed how in some instances in the novel, when the original Spanish turns of phrase would not translate directly into English effectively, she intentionally “mistranslated” in order to get the original meaning across using different words. She emphasizes translating ideas rather than exact phrases.

Kripper’s translation journey has taken her from translating washing machine instructions to having the opportunity to translate literature she is passionate about. Now, she teaches the next generation of students, and has been interviewed as a translation expert by NPR about Netflix’s Squid Games. Her invaluable advice to students is, “Don't be afraid of going outside your comfort zone, and get to know your professors.”

Post Date: 04-29-2024