Research into Poetry Translation Essay - 1995 Words

Research into poetry translation dominates translation studies (Jones, 2011:181), due to the genre’s high status (Bassnett, 2002:114) and the â€Å"rich variety of problems† (Jones, 2011:182) it poses translators. This essay will discuss the challenges faced by poetry translators - both those which all literary translators encounter and those specifically relevant to poetry. I will illustrate my points by referring to Roy Campbell’s translation (Fleurs du mal, 2014) of Baudelaire’s 1861 poem L’Albatros and James Kirkup’s translation (University of Pennsylvania, 2014) of Apollinaire’s 1912 poem Le pont Mirabeau (see Appendix). Due to space constraints, I will focus solely on issues associated with the translation process itself, rather than†¦show more content†¦Arguably the translator should, in most cases, aim to reproduce the source text author’s style (Landers, 2001:90) rather than impose his or her own (ibid.:91), however the translator’s style will invariably influence the translation due to what Jones (2009:153) calls the translator’s â€Å"cultural space-time,† which will differ from that of the source text author. However in some situations the translator may wish to translate the source text into a different style, for example if the source text style is not compatible with target-culture norms (see below), although the translator should be wary of ‘normalizing’ the target text, particularly if the source text uses what the source culture would define as â€Å"non-standard styles,† as â€Å"normalizing arguably risks losing the style’s textual function† (ibid.:153). According to Jones (ibid.:153), â€Å"the question is whether translators can ever replicate the complex web of stylistic features found in many literary texts. If not, what should translators prioritize?†. Some of the â€Å"stylistic features† which are most prevalent, especially in poetry, are the structural ‘form’ of the text, ‘sound effects’ such as rhyme, metre, and alliteration, and figurative techniques such as metaphor. Lefevere (1992:37) emphasizes that, as well as deciding which of these features to prioritize, the translator has to decide whether the â€Å"sound† of the poem in general (i.e. its semantics, the combination of these features) should take higherShow MoreRelatedThe Poetics And The Theory Of The Literary History Process Essay1585 Words   |  7 Pagesafter gnosis and literary anthropology – research area. It comprises visual poetry and, more extensively, verse theory. I devoted to these questions a number of articles and presentations. 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