Page 144 - Libro Max Cetto

The Story of a Book. Modern Architecture in Mexico Cristina López Uribe and Salvador Lizárraga Sánchez

presents a less optimistic discourse; more is spoken –and criticized– of the integration of
all arts; there is a discussion of crisis (e.g., the Valley of Mexico), the earthquake, floods and
the sinking of the capital; and the term “mannerism” is introduced as an interpretive cat-
egory. Much more care was clearly taken in Cetto’s book. In the eighties, Enrique Guerrero
said that, when the book Modern Architecture in Mexico was published, “we felt it more
ours.” He surely meant that Myers’ book is not completely bilingual and carelessly offers
Spanish translations for all texts except the photo captions or the commentaries on pages
that have images of buildings, precisely the parts that were undoubtedly of most interest
to architects.

Einfühlung

From the moment the book project started, Max Cetto defended the need for an English
translation. After he had proposed French, he stated in his letters that English makes a lot
of sense –especially commercially– for the American continent. It was not until mid-1957
that a deal was finalized with an American publisher that would do the English transla-
tion. As Gerd Hatje wrote to him: “I will talk to Reinhold about your book in New York. If
Reinhold never does it, I’m sure Frederick A. Praeger, who has taken on our Neue Deutsche
Architektur and also our Nervi, will take the US edition. The English edition will become a
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reality.” As soon as he saw the photographs that Cetto sent to New York for Gerd Hatje
to receive while traveling in that city, Praeger became excited about the project, saying it
would be better than Myers, and the deal was made. 71
A great deal of the discussions found in the archive relate to translations. Max Cetto
was very disappointed by the English translation. In our eyes, it is difficult to understand
what was so bothersome to him, as sometimes the text flows much better in that language
than in Spanish, which is more rushed (the Spanish is notably shorter than the English
version, when the opposite is usually the case). There are also multiple variations between
these versions. One of the most noteworthy is the title of the essay on Mexico City that, in
English, reads “From Superfluity to Scarcity: The Sad Story of Mexico City’s Water Supply”
and, in Spanish, “Tratado sobre la abundancia y la escasez de agua en el valle de México y
la alarmante macrocefalia metropolitana” (“Treatise on the abundance and scarcity of water
in the Valley of Mexico and the alarming metropolitan macrocephaly”). Some of these
variations clearly aim to “not injure the sensitivities of his friends in Mexico,” or at least to
soften their tone.
One of the translations which most bothered Cetto was that of the concept Einfühlung
from German to English as “the imaginative projection of emotion” rather than “em-
pathy,” as used in the title of Worringer’s book in English. However, it should be noted
that the Spanish version maintains the dubious translation of Einfühlung as “naturaleza”
(nature), derived from the book’s Mexican translation. 72
The mockups of the book were sent via certified mail as items sent by standard mail
were not uncommonly lost. However, despite the very complex communication process and
the fact that no one spoke Spanish at the German publishing house, the editorial quality
of the book is undeniable. Cetto expressed this on December 14, 1960, writing to give thanks
for the Christmas surprise of an advance copy of his book, praising the extraordinary quality

70 Letter from Hatje to Cetto, July 5, 1957 (AMCC).
71 Letter from Hatje to Cetto, January 15, 1958 (AMCC).
72 See Modern Architecture in Mexico, 25, 27. Letter from Cetto to Hatje, February 17, 1961 (AMCC).

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