Many Voices in Retranslation. A Review of Retranslating Joyce for the 21st Century

This article is a review of Jolanta Wawrzycka and Erika Mihálycsa’s edited volume Retranslating Joyce for the 21st Century (European Joyce Studies 30, Brill/ Rodopi, 2021). It discusses a number of core issues raised in the book, starting from the observation that 21st century translations of Joyce’s work are by necessity retranslations, and that this necessarily makes them qualitatively different from first translations. The chapters discuss many features of retranslation in the context of Ulysses in particular, ranging from the notion of retranslation hypothesis and comparisons between versions to issues of dealing with many voices and the creativity this requires; the necessity of contextualising the different versions; and the roles of the retranslator, reviser and editor. The review also makes some suggestions for future research on retranslating Joyce.

Article translated by: Zofia Ziemann

This article is a review of Jolanta Wawrzycka and Erika Mihálycsa’s edited volume Retranslating Joyce for the 21st Century (European Joyce Studies 30, Brill/ Rodopi, 2021). It discusses a number of core issues raised in the book, starting from the observation that 21st century translations of Joyce’s work are by necessity retranslations, and that this necessarily makes them qualitatively different from first translations. The chapters discuss many features of retranslation in the context of Ulysses in particular, ranging from the notion of retranslation hypothesis and comparisons between versions to issues of dealing with many voices and the creativity this requires; the necessity of contextualising the different versions; and the roles of the retranslator, reviser and editor. The review also makes some suggestions for future research on retranslating Joyce.

Article translated by: Zofia Ziemann