/translate-lookup

Look up official translations of Fitzgerald quotes from published Spanish/Chinese Gatsby texts.

Purpose

Find the corresponding passages in official translations rather than generating AI translations of quotes, ensuring academic integrity and alignment with established literary translations.

Usage

/translate-lookup <language>

Where <language> is either spanish or mandarin.

Input

• •translations/quote-registry.json — Quote registry from /translate-extract
• •book/chapters-es/chapter-*.txt — Official Spanish translation (for spanish)
• •book/chapters-chinese/chapter-*.txt — Official Chinese translation (for mandarin)

Output

• •translations/quote-translations.json — Registry with official translations added

Output Format

{
  "metadata": {
    "source_registry": "translations/quote-registry.json",
    "lookup_date": "YYYY-MM-DD",
    "languages": ["spanish", "mandarin"]
  },
  "quotes": [
    {
      "id": "Q001",
      "text": "original English quote",
      "chapter": 1,
      "translations": {
        "spanish": {
          "text": "official Spanish translation",
          "found": true,
          "notes": "any alignment notes"
        },
        "mandarin": {
          "text": "official Chinese translation",
          "found": true,
          "notes": "any alignment notes"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}

Lookup Process

For each quote in the registry:

1. •Read source chapter: Load book/chapters-{es|chinese}/chapter-{XX}.txt
2. •Identify key phrases: Extract distinctive words/phrases from the English quote
3. •Search for alignment: Find the corresponding passage in the official translation
4. •Verify match: Confirm the passage aligns semantically with the English
5. •Record translation: Store the official translation text
6. •Note discrepancies: If translation differs significantly or cannot be found, add notes

Alignment Strategies

• •Proper nouns: Search for character names (Gatsby, Daisy, Tom)
• •Distinctive imagery: "green light", "valley of ashes", "boats against the current"
• •Structural markers: Beginning/end of chapters, paragraph breaks
• •Surrounding context: Use context field from registry to narrow search

Edge Cases

• •Partial quotes: Find the full sentence, extract the matching portion
• •Paraphrased in essay: Note if essay paraphrases rather than quotes directly
• •Multiple matches: Use context to disambiguate; prefer first occurrence

Verification

After lookup, report:

• •Quotes found vs. not found
• •Any quotes requiring manual review
• •Confidence level for each match