The Translator Relay: Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel

Translators and their outstanding work have made Norwegian literature the worldwide success story it is today and we are deeply grateful to them. To shine a light on their demanding work and get to know the individuals better, we have initiated a series of interviews with the men and women who translate from the Norwegian into the German.

Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel was born in Berlin in 1959. He graduated in German and Romance studies and has been working as a literary translator from Norwegian, French and Italian since 1987. His translations include Norwegian authors such as Tomas Espedal, Lars Mytting, Jon Fosse, Kjell Askildsen and Henrik Ibsen. He has been awarded several prices for his work. In 2018 he received the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit, Knight 1st Class, "for the promotion of cultural relations between Norway and Germany". From 2008 to 2017, Hinrich Schmidt-Henkel was chairman of the Association of German-speaking Translators of Literary and Scientific Works (VdÜ).

So, Hinrich, when did you decide to work as a literary translator and what were your reasons for making that decision?

I think that translating literature is a brilliant profession because it offers an outlet for my love of both literature and language! I have been devouring books since I was little, and languages and speaking always played a crucial role in my life. At the age of twenty-six, it suddenly dawned on me that translating literature is actually a proper job; by then, I had graduated and finished training to be a teacher in French and German. I could have realised this at a much earlier stage, because my parents were friends with the well-known translator Eugen Helmlé. Besides I have always liked translating. Whenever I especially liked a text in a foreign language, I would feel an urge to turn it into German.

Which Norwegian work you are currently translating and what is it about?

A collection of stories by Tarjei Vesaas. He writes about exceptional situations and stages in life in an absolutely fascinating language – gentle as well as powerful, archaic as well as contemporary. Vesaas has a special place within my presentations for the Book Fair in 2019, which, apart from the stories, is made up of two novels and a volume of poetry. I have concentrated on Norwegian for the past two years, including works by Jon Fosse, Tomas Espedal, Erik Fosnes Hansen, Lars Mytting, Ibsen – and Kjell Askildsen’s collected works.

Do you translate one book at a time or do you work on several texts in parallel?

Ever since the Frankfurt book fair’s ‘Guest of Honour’ country was announced some time ago, translators from the Norwegian have felt beleaguered. My daily work routine currently entails shifts when I translate either Veesas or Askildsen. Normally, I concentrate on one text at a time although it can happen now and then that I slip in a fairly short novel while I am also at work on a longer one, or that I take a break to complete a script for the theatre – or even that I organise my timetable to shift work between alternate books.

You are known to be particularly fond of the classical canon. Why should we still read the Norwegian classics nowadays?

The impression that I am prejudiced in favour of certain period authors is not right, even though I have done many re-translations of older works from French as well as Norwegian. Take Ibsen, for instance: good productions of his plays still have something worthwhile to say to us now. Arguably, a book in a foreign language only becomes a classical work when new translations are published because, every time, it acquires new meanings.

Of course in addition to your literary translation work you often undertake to facilitate readings and seminars. For a long time, you also chaired the German Society of Literary Translators. You are still active as a consultant to the board and untiringly campaign for translators’ rights. What drives this engagement of yours?

It stems from my conviction that cooperation is matters very much, as does joining forces and together representing shared concerns – be that as school pupils, students, or as members of a certain occupation or social group. I have myself profited from such activism by others, in personal as well as professional contexts. Ever since I started out as a translator, it has struck me how keen those with experience in our trade are to pass on their wisdom, and how all of us are making headway because we exchange knowledge and share ideas with each other. I think that basing one’s personal strength on group membership is very important. I feel strongly that I’d like to contribute to interaction within the world of translation. And I’m a huge fan of the attitude that, whatever is the current state of affairs, it can always be changed and probably improved – especially by acting together.

Is contact with the writer important to you and, if it is, how frequently do you tend be in touch?

I always get in touch with ‘my’ writers – in this context, too, I feel that communication is crucial. It can be at any level of good work-related cooperation, ranging from a couple of emails about the book and on to friendly relationships based on lively correspondence. And it is a particular pleasure if writers join the companionable dinner parties at home with me and my partner and sometime co-translator Frank Heibert; the guests are usually a mix of agents, journalists, people from publishing houses and other friends. In my view, we translators are literary accomplices of the writers as well as acting literary critics – whose criticisms are sometimes welcome, sometimes very much not. Understandably...

Ina Kronenberger, the colleague of yours who handed you the translator’s baton, told us how affectionately she remembers when the two of you met: she attended one of your seminars on French translation at the beginning of her career and you surprised her greatly by greeting her with a Norwegian phrase – “Velkommen hit”. It impressed her and formed a first bond between you. Now, Ina Kronenberger would like to know if translation still can hold professional surprises for you?

What Ina said has actually both surprised and very much moved me. As for her question: to me, it seems there can hardly be another job so rich in surprises and other elements that deserve our curiosity and attention. Ever so often a new technical term, or a new linguistic or stylistic world that opens up to be explored...

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not busy with literature and translating it?

Gardening. Physical activity. Baking bread. Cooking, for other people – the more the better. Singing in choirs. And before, at the same time and afterwards: voluntary work.

Is there any one particular encounter or event at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2019 that you look forward to especially?

Encounters, encounters, encounters. The international presentation of the first volume of Jon Fosse‘s Septology: The Other Name (Septology 1-2: The Other Name will be published by Fitzcarraldo Editions (UK) in 2020). My great dream is to meet in Oslo, just before the fair opens, the then ninety-year-old Kjell Askildsen and, when we are face-to-face, present him with a copy of his collected works translated into German. I love the man and I also love his writing – which is why I took on this task even though I truly was fully booked already. The undertaking made the two subsequent years intensely busy and outsiders can hardly imagine that this could also make one so happy.

To whom among your colleagues would you like to hand the translator’s baton and what would you like to know about his or her work?

Ebba Drolshagen! One of my close friends and a wonderful colleague and writer. I can’t think of anyone else who shows such warmth and compassion to what goes on in life as well as being capable of such intelligent, witty scrutiny. The opposite of a cynic. Her book A Norwegian Manual (new edition, 2019) is an essential work: tremendously insightful, even for those who feel that they already know all there is to know about the country and its people.

Dear Ebba, I think women readers would be interested in the baton carrier’s answers, especially to learn more about your linguistic duality and its role in your life and work.

Translated from the German by Anna Paterson.