It’s Past Time to Credit Translators

Earlier this week, Chris Kerr at Game Developer published an article highlighting Nintendo’s practices regarding attributing translators who work on its games.

The rules are relatively simple. Internal translators, those working for Nintendo directly, receive full named credit. External ones, however, do not.

Though Nintendo sometimes credits the company, the individual translators who worked on the project are not. This includes translators who worked on major titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and the Super Mario RPG.

To make matters worse, Nintendo often requires translators to sign non-disclosure agreements. This means they can’t discuss their work on the game for ten years. This prevents translators from using their work on those games to get other work down the line.

Though the article specifically targets Nintendo, those interviewed say the problem is industry-wide. They say translation agencies have an “opaque” relationship with developers and have little way to counter developer demands.

However, it isn’t just the video game industry. As we discussed last month, publishers have a lengthy history of failing to credit those who work on books. Translators have made significant progress on getting cover credit, but that progress has been hard-fought and is still incomplete.

It’s time to give translators the respect and credit they deserve. Their work is challenging and creative and deserves proper acknowledgment in whatever medium it is presented in.

Translating is an Art

The Babel Fish website launched in December 1997, bringing machine translation to the masses. To put it mildly, Babel Fish was crude and not very effective. However, it was still interesting to be able to read foreign language text well enough to get a general idea.

Since then, automated translation has dramatically improved. iPhones have a Translate app that can translate text, voice and images into another language. Online translation is now available in dozens of additional languages and has drastically improved accuracy and availability.

In short, automated translation is everywhere and is perfectly fine for a myriad of day-to-day tasks.

However, despite a quarter century of progress, when translation is crucial, we turn to humans. Books, video games and films are still translated by humans. The United Nations still uses a bank of human interpreters. Likewise, the medical and legal fields rely on human interpreters.

The reason is that language is complicated, nuanced and constantly changing. We continually create new words and change the meaning of existing words. Language is also full of expressions and idioms that don’t translate neatly. The phrase “It’s about to go down” is almost meaningless in other languages.

The goal of the translator is not to transcribe word for word. It’s to understand the original author’s intent and then convey that in a new language. That is a complex process, as many concepts don’t have one-to-one translations, even in similar languages.

Inevitably, the translator becomes part of the translated work. Their creativity and their decisions influence the new product. Though that amount varies from work to work, their impact can be similar to that of an editor or coauthor.

Translation, in and of itself, is an art form. It needs to be treated as such.

Practical Reasons

The reasons for giving translators full credit go beyond recognizing it for the craft that it is. There are many practical reasons for citing translators as well.

The first is obvious. In an age of automated translation tools, showing that a human performed the translations is important in and of itself. Right now, AI zombie blogs are attributing their work to fake humans. That makes it very odd that publishers indirectly attribute their human work to bots.

Second, a good translation can significantly strengthen a work. But what happens if that translation is bad or somehow flawed? Without crediting the translator, it’s solely the author, publisher or developer who will take the blame.

Crediting translators lets the audience and the rest of the industry know who the best and worst translators are. Bad or problematic translators will struggle to find work, while good ones will be highlighted and sought after.

Good translators could become a selling point for a book, movie or game. While that might seem outrageous, the public already knows the names of writers, directors, producers and editors. Using well-known and well-respected translators could bolster a title internationally.

Finally, attribution is a zero-cost way to repay translators. While translators deserve to be well-compensated monetarily, this is a way to add to that without spending another penny. All things being equal, I believe most translators would choose the project that comes with clear credit over one that doesn’t.

That makes it even more baffling that credit for translators is as inconsistent as it is.

Bottom Line

Translation is, in and of itself, a creative act. If we accept that fact, then it follows that the translator’s creativity will impact the creative work they are working on. The Spanish and English versions of a piece of art will never be precisely the same because one will be filtered through the lens of a translator.

However, that’s no different than the countless other creatives who touch a particular work. Writers, editors, artists, designers, lighting technicians, directors, producers, costume designers and numerous other creative people touch and impact virtually every piece of media you interact with.

What’s different is that most creatives are credited for their contributions, while translators are not, at least not consistently.

For book publishers, this is easy to explain. The publishing industry has long tried to present books as works as creations of a sole author. That’s why the idea of adding credit pages to books is equally simple and revolutionary.

But for Nintendo and other video game publishers, it’s more confusing. Video games already have lengthy credit sequences that acknowledge hundreds or thousands of people who work on the game. Omitting translators for any reason feels like deliberate cruelty.

Consistently crediting translators would not just be a boon for translators. It would help publishers of all types, the audience and the others who worked on the product get the credit and/or blame they deserve.

It’s a rare situation where everyone wins. That makes the lack of consistent credit all the more baffling.