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To what extent does cultural distance interfere with or limit literary experience? What kind of intimacy is needed to make a text into a work? This essay seeks to answer these questions by focusing on the writings of Arvind Krishna Mehrotra. In doing so, it suggests that the challenges of cultural distance may be most acute when dealing with texts from homo-linguistic literary environments, and that we might overcome these challenges by undertaking a world literary criticism that attends to localized fields and materials without forgetting the charge of particular works.
In this paper, I will address the issue of translation as a critique of autochthony that emerges in the context of Fritz Mauthner's linguistic scepticism. Translation, for Mauthner, becomes a privileged prism through which to consider identity and belonging, as well as a way of understanding uprootedness, since language is a continuous product of borrowing, bastardization, stratification, and contingency. According to Mauthner, languages are not possession, but borrowing; not purity, but contagion; not an abstract crystallization, but transit. Therefore, love of the mother tongue - the only way to conceive patriotism - is not a physical connection with the land, roots, or nation, but a refuge, an always precarious 'Heimat' (home).
What are called 'natural languages' are artificial, often politically instituted and regulated, phenomena; a more accurate picture of speech practices around the globe is of a multidimensional continuum. This essay asks what the implications of this understanding of language are for translation, and focuses on the variety of Afrikaans known as Kaaps, which has traditionally been treated as a dialect rather than a language in its own right. An analysis of a poem in Kaaps by Nathan Trantraal reveals the challenges such a use of language constitutes for translation. A revised understanding of translation is proposed, relying less on the notion of transfer of meaning from one language to another and more on an active engagement with the experience of the reader.
Des critiques et écrivains de nouvelles ont défendu l'idée que la brieveté et un unique moment de clarté sont les éléments essentiels du format court typique de la nouvelle. Cependant, la nouvelle postcoloniale est plurielle, polyphonique et versatile, et elle a tendance à s'appuyer sur le désaccord culturel, social, et linguistique. Ce chapitre examine la traduction et l'échec de celle-ci dans l'oeuvre de deux nouvellistes prolifiques qui viennent des deux différentes traditions postcoloniales : Nadine Gordimer et Anita Desai. La prémisse de mon argument est que les nouvelles de ces écrivains ont pour la plupart lieu dans des espaces périphériques, par exemple des villages et des avant-postes. Elles dramatisent une forme de processus postcolonial de désengagement des centres de pouvoir en explorant et en remettant en question des hiérarchies discursives. Cette renégociation implique la présence de perspectives multiples et de subjectivités plurielles, de même qu'elle insiste sur des traductions problématiques et des malentendus surgissant en leur sein. Par l'étude de textes de Gordimer et Desai, ce chapitre considère plusieurs formes de malentendus – fausses représentations, mécompréhension, traductions erronées et obstructions linguistiques – qui ses présentent dans deux nouvelles. Il ressort de cette analyse que les malentendus sont susceptibles de devenir les instruments de l'expression d'une résistance dans les sites hégémoniques de la langue et du pouvoir.
It is no longer possible to ignore how crucial processes of cultural translation and their analysis have become, whether for cultural contact or interreligious relations and conflicts, for integration strategies in multicultural societies or for the exploration of productive interfaces between the humanities and the natural sciences. The globalisation of world society, in particular, demands increased attention to mediation processes and problems of transfer, in terms of both the circulation of global representations and 'travelling concepts' and of the interactions that make up cultural encounters. Here, translation becomes, on the one hand, a condition for global relations of exchange ('global translatability') and, on the other, a medium especially liable to reveal cultural differences, power imbalances and the scope for action. An explicit focus on translation processes— something increasingly prevalent across the humanities—may thus enable us to scrutinise more closely current and historical situations of cultural encounter as complex processes of cultural translation. Translation is opened up to a transnational cultural practice that in no way remains restricted to binary relationships between national languages, national literatures or national cultures.
This paper is part of a broader research project, which involves the Brazilian Portuguese translation, with notes and commentaries, of the 'Gesammelte Schriften über Musik und Musiker' (On Music and Musicians) by the German composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856). In such a study, located on the border of language, literature, and music, methodology gains a double significance: firstly, the nature and extent of the incursions through fields which are autonomous in themselves, but connected in the document to be translated, not only requires unity, but also reveals the gaps the translator is exposed to; and secondly, the methodology not only defines the scientific premises of the work, but also brings to light its ethical dimension. With this in mind I have chosen a methodological approach which works in two complementary ways, with the act of translating always being the point of departure and arrival: (1) from the experience of translation and the identification of gaps and problems, followed by the registration of the first notes and comments, through systematic research in connected areas; and (2) the opposite way: from the research in related fields back to the translation and to the editing of notes and comments. Each step of the process is carefully registered, as well as the different versions of the translated text. Allowing methodology to take precedence is therefore an act of self-exposure and defense: on the one hand, it is a means of assuring visibility for the translator; on the other hand, it secures concrete parameters for judgment both by readers and critics.
What if one thinks not in terms of shared meanings or contents, but rather in terms of iterable gestures available for reenactment in different times and places in order to conceive of a cross-cultural world of literature? This essay sets out to explore, within the discursive mode of the lyric, whether the notion of gesture could be more helpful than meaning-based translation to account for the transferability of literary texts and for envisioning a form of community based on the shareability of certain gestures. To do so, it will look at how the act-event of reading described by Derek Attridge is processed in two cases in which poems are transferred from an earlier authoritative tradition into a new one.
This article takes the renowned study "Der Akt des Lesens" (1976) by Wolfgang Iser and its translation "The Act of Reading" (1978) as its starting point. The differences between the two texts are discussed in terms of Iser's own idea of translatability as a cultural practice that was outlined in the short text "On Translatability". This theoretical frame will shed light on the decisions made in his own translations, and will help to develop a conceptualization of self-translation as a practice inherent in cultural change. [...] I will propose a combination of two concepts, Iser's 'translatability' (in II.) and the notion of 'autocommunication' by Lotman (III.), to suggest a concept of self-translation that entails three interrelated aspects: a) translation as a rewriting of the text as such, b) translation as continued work on one's argument as well as c) the re-translation back to the original source as a manifestation of a change in one's thought structure - Änderungen der eigenen Denkstruktur, as one of Werner Heisenberg's papers is entitled, and to which I will come back in my conclusion (IV.). Hence, the focus is mainly systematic and conceptual, however, I will first comment on my example of self- and re-translation and start with a comparison of different versions of Iser's "Der Akt des Lesens" and the shorter texts that led to the actual monograph.
Throughout the humanities, greater attention is being paid at present to the category of translation. More than ever before, the tradition al understanding of translation as the (philological and linguistic) translation of text and language is being expanded upon. Increasingly, translation is being spoken about as cultural translation. Yet often the use of this term is merely metaphorical, or even downright inflationary.
Several phenomena associated with the differences in the performance of novice interpreters and semi-professionals have been discussed in the paper. Particular emphasis was placed on the occurrence of imported cognitive load which strongly influenced the performance of the subjects also in places where no intrinsic difficulty had been detected. Nevertheless, too little evidence was provided to establish a more detailed pattern of imported cognitive load, which was due to the limited number of participants in the study. It would be possible to obtain more detailed data and comments from the participants by means of interviews conducted individually with the participants. It would allow asking detailed questions to the participants, which might be a more reliable method than the immediate retrospective accounts. Moreover, in the present study such variables as gender differences, age differences and the possible influence of other foreign languages were not taken into account. Perhaps these variables might shed some light on the issue of the management of cognitive resources. Also, the corpus gathered for the present study may be used for the investigation of other aspects of the SI performance.
Rezension zu Rainer Maria Rilke's The Book of Hours. A New Translation with Commentary. Translated by Susan Ranson. Edited with and Introduction and Notes by Ben Hutchinson. Camden House. Rochester New York. 2009. XLIV + 240 S.
In her article, Karin Littau proposes a material or medial turn in the humanities and social sciences to end the neglect of the material basis to every act of communication, including translation. This proposal is warmly welcomed. As a comparatist who has for some time been trying to build bridges between literary studies and book history, I strongly support Littau's point of view – all the more since I am less optimistic regarding the general acceptance of such ideas in the humanities, and especially in literary and translation studies. I am not so sure that McLuhan and the other authorities for the importance of mediality and technicity whom Littau quotes (e.g. Kittler, Ong, and Gumbrecht) have really provoked a "crisis in the self-understanding of the human sciences". For brevity's sake, in my response below, I leave aside literary studies to focus on translation studies.
"[...] In 1639, Martin Opitz rescued for us the only complete surviving text of the Annolied (circa 1083), and now Graeme Dunphy has made available a reprint of the Opitz edition and with it Opitz’s prologue and notes, a new English translation, and the translator’s informative notes on the translation and on Opitz’s commentary. In his prologue Opitz expresses the purpose of the edition, which is to demonstrate that the German language was inherited by his contemporaries in an unbroken line from earliest times. This is a strikingly early formulation of the romantic thesis the Grimm brothers developed later. Thus by including Opitz’s prologue and notes on his sources and philological explanations, Dunphy gives us the essential tools to re-invigorate research in three areas: Opitz, who is too frequently thought of as a narrowly focused poeticist, the serious study of philology and history in the sixteenth century, and most importantly, the Annolied itself. [...]" Quelle: Maria Dobozy : http://www.iaslonline.de/index.php?vorgang_id=751
Metaphorization and selected translation techniques : the case study of "National Geographic"
(2008)
In the first half of this article I will explore Van Helmont's philosophy of language and translation, in part by contextualizing it within the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century traditions upon which he drew. Since Van Helmont is so explicit about the philosophy of language and translation that he developed, I will investigate in this article if he turned his philosophy into practice. Therefore, the second half of this article will discuss Van Helmont's practices of using and translating between his two main languages (Dutch and Latin). The way in which he employed the languages in which he wrote raises questions about his practice of self-translation and the use of language. Did his mother tongue always figure as the first language into which his thoughts were translated, or could it also have been Latin as the first language for his profession? Van Helmont might have been switching primary languages for the different purposes of his writings. Before going into more detail about his philosophy and use of language, I will briefly introduce this relatively unknown author to the reader.
It is no longer possible to ignore how crucial the processes of cultural translation and their analysis have become, whether for cultural contact or interreligious relations and conflicts, for integration strategies in multicultural societies, or for the exploration of productive interfaces between humanities and the natural sciences. The globalization of world society, in particular, demands increased attention to mediation processes and problems of transfer, in terms both of the circulation of global representations and "travelling concepts" and of the interactions that make up cultural encounters. Here, translation becomes, on the one hand, a condition for global relations of exchange ("global translatability"), and on the other, a medium especially liable to reveal cultural differences, power imbalances and scope for action. An explicit focus on translation processes something increasingly prevalent across the humanities may thus enable us to scrutinize more closely current and historical situations of cultural encounter as complex processes of cultural translation. Translation is opened up to a transnational cultural practice that in no way remains restricted to binary relationships between national languages, national literatures or national cultures.
This article will attempt to suggest translation procedures necessary to translate culturally bound items in the referential level of a literary work illustrated with examples from two novels: “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “Vineland” by Thomas Pynchon. First, the article will include a general description of the referential level in literary works offering possible avenues of 285 its rendition, then and finally suggest a translation methodology and techniques together with practical examples of the theory at work.
I shall use the precise term 'interlinear morphemic translation (IMT) to designate the object of this study. [...] An IMT is a translation of a text in a language L1 to a string of elements taken from L2 where, ideally, each morpheme of the L1 text is rendered by a morpheme of L2 or a configuration of symbols representing its meaning and where the sequence of the units of the translation corresponds to the sequence of the morphemes which they render. [...] An IMT is needed whenever it is essential that the reader grasp the grammatical structure of the L1 text but is presumed to be so unfamiliar with L1 that he will not be able to do so merely with the aid of a normal translation and the context in which the text is cited. [...] The primary aim of an IMT is to make the grammatical structure of the L1 text transparent. The textual fluency of the IMT by standards of the L2 grammar is a subordinate aim at best.
Cet article examine le rôle souvent occulté et pourtant essentiel de la traduction comme source d'innovation et de créativité dans l'histoire littéraire et la théorie. Il s'appuie sur plusieurs exemples allant du fameux épisode de la création d'Ève à partir de la "côte d'Adam" dans la Bible de Jérôme, basée sur la traduction fautive du mot hébreu "qaran" en latin et reflétant le biais patriarcal de Jérôme, à la traduction, tronquée du Deuxième Sexe de Simone de Beauvoir (1946) par le zoologiste retraité Howard M. Parshley qui allait néanmoins inspirer des études marquantes de la seconde vague féministe américaine telles que "The Feminine Mystique" (1963) de Betty Friedan et "Sexual Politics" (1970) de Kate Millett. L'exemple le plus développé retrace l'interaction productive de la traduction et de la réécriture dans la fiction d'Angela Carter, de "The Fairy Tales of Charles Perrault" (1977) jusqu'à ses célèbres "stories about fairy stories" recueillies dans "The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories" (1979) et "American Ghosts and Old World Wonders" (1992). Je propose de lire les variations de Carter sur "Aschenputtel" dans "Ashputtle or The Mother's Ghost" comme un correctif à sa traduction de la morale de "Cendrillon ou la Petite Pantoufle de Verre" de Perrault. La poétique traductive (translational poetics) de Carter démontre ainsi l'impact crucial de la traduction – y compris des erreurs – sur la démarche de l'écrivain, qui associe la (re)lecture créative inhérente à l'activité de traduction au travail de (ré)écriture jusqu'à en faire la matrice à partir de laquelle elle a élaboré son oeuvre singulière.
The "World Geography" ("Wanguo dili quanji" 萬國地理全集) published in 1844 by the Protestant missionary Karl F.A. Gützlaff was the first geographical account to introduce some European ethnotypes to China. Based on recent archival findings, my article compares this book with both its presumed Western source and its rendering in the 1847 edition of Wei Yuan 魏源's "Maps and Documents of the Maritime Countries" ("Haiguo tuzhi" 海國圖志). It thus explores the role that interlingual and intralingual transfers respectively played first in negotiating and then renegotiating two European stereotypes in their early travels to and within the Qing empire.
Ein Vordenker, der in der internationalen Diskussion um « cultural translation » so gut wie nie diskutiert wird, ist Antonio Gramsci. Der Philosoph aus Sardinien, von Kindes Tagen an in Zweisprachigkeit (Sardisch-Italienisch) geübt, hat ein feines Sensorium für kulturelle Differenzen ausgebildet. In seinen Gefängnisjahren übersetzt er – als intellektuelles Training – aus dem Russischen und dem Deutschen ins Italienische, und in den Gefängnisheften setzt er sich wiederholt mit dem Begriff der traducibilità (Übersetzbarkeit) auseinander: Übersetzbarkeit von Sprachen, aber auch von Kulturen. Der Artikel geht den Linien nach, die von Gramscis Überlegungen zu der aktuellen Diskussion gezogen werden können, und diskutiert am Ende vergleichend die Positionen Homi K. Bhabhas und Gayatri Spivaks.
In the beautifully situated villa of the Literarisches Colloquium Berlin overlooking Lake Wannsee, the Third International Colloquium for Beckett Translators took place from 3rd to 6th October 1998. The financing had been realized with the help of the European Commission and the Berlin Senate for Science, Research and Culture.