Ewa Skwara

Rape on Stage (the Case of Terence)

In four of his six comedies the Roman playwright Terence uses rape as the key element of intrigue which in the plot of his plays leads to marriage and a happy ending. This poses a major problem to translators, not only because such a drastic act is incompatible with the genre of comedy but above all because it is always committed by the main protagonist – a young man, romantically infatuated, a character the audience or the readers are supposed to like. What is worse, the act of violence, often graphically depicted, which is assessed unequivocally according to our standards, within the convention of ancient comedy is relativized depending on the status of the victim. The harm done to slaves, courtesans and foreign women who cannot count on legal protection is considered humanum (‘human thing’) in comedy. Rape is considered criminal only after the victim is discovered to be a daughter of a noble family and therefore capable of legal marriage, which in turn gives the play a happy end. The challenge for the translator is not to turn the protagonist into a villain.

The term stuprum (rape/seducement) does not help the translator either, as it is very wide and denotes any extramarital sexual contact with a freeborn girl of a noble family, including consensual one. If the text fails to provide clear signals of the use of force, the translator faces the temptation to soften the nature of the act.

The article discusses the various strategies used by translators in order to present complex socio-legal realities of the ancient text which are incongruous with our standards, and to avoid anachronism in rendering the image of the main character – the perpetrator.

Using Plautus’ comedies as an example, the article shows how the translation
of erotica has varied depending on the dominant habits and customs of a given period.
It underlines two opposite trends: one allows an increasing license to evoke fantasy;
the other inhibits the graphic and vulgar side of the texts (especially in the choice of
language). If an erotic pun in the original evokes only sexual associations and allusions,
translators often feel obliged to be bold in their rendering of the text. But there can be
no consenting to the use of vulgar language. On the one hand, translators are hindered
by the conviction that language of the characters in ancient plays should not appear too
modern. On the other hand, dictionaries offer a practically biblical (or merely archaic)
vocabulary when it comes to the obscene. In effect, erotica usually tends to sound more
archaic than the rest of the text.

Eros with patina. Translating erotica in ancient comedy
Using Plautus’ comedies as an example, the article shows how the translation of erotica
varied depending on the dominant habits and customs of a given period. It underlines
two opposite trends: one allows an ever-growing license to invoke fantasy; the second
inhibits the texts to be too graphic and vulgar (especially when it comes to the choice
of language). If an erotic pun of the original invokes only sexual associations and allusions,
translators often feel obliged to be bold in their version of the text. But there
can be no consent about the use of vulgar language. On the one hand, translators are
hindered by the conviction that the heroes of ancient plays should not speak a language
that looks too modern. On the other hand, dictionaries offer an almost biblical (or just
archaic) vocabulary when it comes to the obscene. In effect erotica usually tend to
sound older, more archaic, than the rest of the text.

Troublesome Masters: Rhymesters Translating Ancient Literature

This article outlines the history of rhyme in Polish translations of ancient literature and focuses on the role of major Polish poets, the “troublesome masters.” They were the ones who, through the use of rhyme in their translations, created a tradition so strong that it could not be easily defied. This rhyme routine had spawned multitudes of translators-verse mongers, who paid more attention to the structure and arrangement of their work than to the quality of their translation. The dominance of rhyme created the illusion that rhyme itself should be blamed for translation weaknesses, which resulted in hostility toward that stylistic measure. After years of its widespread use, or rather its misuse, in translation of ancient literature, rhyme was almost entirely abandoned in favour of prose or blank verse. Today rhyme slowly returns from exile, but only in those genres which in the Polish language have always been connected with it, such as epigram or fable. Moreover, rhyme re-appears where it is used to strengthen humour or alleviate the indecency of wit.

Translating drama requires not only knowledge of the elements constituting the play’s world and of the theatrical conventions of the author’s epoch, but it frequently entails also a reconstruction of the original performance. Such is usually the case with classical tragedies and comedies that – created as performances – initially had no textual form. In order to understand, interpret and translate such plays it is necessary to recreate the stage construction and setting, as well as the stage movement and proxemics. Taking as an example a passage from Terence’s Phormio, or the Scheming Parasite, the article presents results of such a reconstruction. The mere fact of understanding the manuscript (stage 1) does not guarantee the right interpretation that might result in a relevant translation. One has to consider also the opinions of editors and commentators (stage 2), psychological realism of the characters (stage 3), and the potential for a convincing staging of the text (stage 4). Only these four aspects considered jointly can ensure a proper translation of the analysed passage.

Muse upon unequal wheels
The title of this article borrows the metaphor employed by Ovid to define the metrical,
visual and auditory disproportion characteristic for elegiac couplets. He himself
used this meter in his Ars amatoria instead of the traditional hexameter to underline
the amusing character of his quasi-parodic poem composed as a literary joke.
Different approaches to translating this metaphor and Ovid’s text are discussed. The
author analyses the literary tradition in order to demonstrate how to keep the form
of the Polish version as close to the original as possible without making it seem
unnatural. The translation should differ from traditional Polish epic forms. Therefore,
the author experiments with prose and thirteen syllables verse with aabb rhymes or
with abab rhymes. In this way she can investigate advantages as well as limitations
of these forms. Consequently, she chooses the verse of thirteen syllables with abab
rhymes, which cannot be found either in the tradition of Polish heroic poetry or in
the tradition of its translation.