Translating Shakespeare, Translating Culture. Text, Paratext, and the Challenges of Recreating Cultural Meanings in Text and on Stage

Paula Baldwin Lind

Titles

Abstract

Translating a Shakespearean play into Spanish – whether that spoken in Spain or in Latin America – constitutes a complex process, as most translators reckon that the semantic transfer is especially challenging, not only because of the syntactic and linguistic differences between the source and the target language, but also because the English text belongs to a context that is geographically and culturally distant, especially in the case of Chile. In addition, due to the fact that Shakespearean texts are scripts to be performed, translators need to consider theatrical elements inherent in the dramatic text that go beyond the textual apparatus, and that may complicate their work. Taking The Tempest, translated into Spanish by two Chilean scholars in 2010, in this article I will argue that a successful translation of Shakespeare for the stage –

a text that goes from the inter-lingual re-writing of the text to a cultural re-interpretation that speaks to a diversity of contemporary identities and audiences − should endeavour to be cultural, spatial, and collaborative; that is to say, that the translator should have a deep understanding of Elizabethan cultural elements that can be included in the translated text by means of paratexts − precise, relevant, and explanatory linguistic and historical notes that may shed light on directorial decisions once the play is performed, as well as consider the space where the play will be staged, and develop a collaborative system of work with translators, directors, and actors during the whole process.

Translating a Shakespearean play into Spanish – whether that spoken in Spain or in Latin America – constitutes a complex process, as most translators reckon that the semantic transfer is especially challenging, not only because of the syntactic and linguistic differences between the source and the target language, but also because the English text belongs to a context that is geographically and culturally distant, especially in the case of Chile. In addition, due to the fact that Shakespearean texts are scripts to be performed, translators need to consider theatrical elements inherent in the dramatic text that go beyond the textual apparatus, and that may complicate their work. Taking The Tempest, translated into Spanish by two Chilean scholars in 2010, in this article I will argue that a successful translation of Shakespeare for the stage –

a text that goes from the inter-lingual re-writing of the text to a cultural re-interpretation that speaks to a diversity of contemporary identities and audiences − should endeavour to be cultural, spatial, and collaborative; that is to say, that the translator should have a deep understanding of Elizabethan cultural elements that can be included in the translated text by means of paratexts − precise, relevant, and explanatory linguistic and historical notes that may shed light on directorial decisions once the play is performed, as well as consider the space where the play will be staged, and develop a collaborative system of work with translators, directors, and actors during the whole process.

Keywords

Shakespeare, translation for the stage, cultural elements, The Tempest.

References

Baldwin Lind P., The Film Industry Woos Shakespeare: Theatrical Space versus Cinematographic Space in the Adaptations of Hamletand Henry Vby Kenneth Branagh, in: eadem (ed.),Telling and Re-telling Stories: Studies on Literary Adaptation to Film, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 2016, pp. 79‒98.

Bassnett S., An Introduction to Theatre Semiotics. Finding a New Language for the ‘language’ of Theatre, “Theatre Quarterly” 1980, vol. 10, no. 38, pp. 47‒55.

Bassnett S., Still Trapped in the Labyrinth: Further Reflections on Translation and Theatre, in: S. Bassnett, A. Lefevere (eds.), Constructing Cultures, Clevedon 1998, pp. 90‒108.

Campillo Arnaiz L., Estudio de los elementos culturales en las obras de Shakespeare y sus traducciones al español por Macpherson, Astrana y Valverde, Unpublished PhD thesis, Murcia 2005; https://digitum.um.es/xmlui/bitstream/10201/178/1/LCampilloArnaiz.pdf (access: 16.04.2018).

Eco U., Saying Almost the Same Thing: Experiences in Translation, Milan 2003.

Eliot T.S., Notes Towards the Definition of Culture,London 1948.

Ewbank I.-S., Shakespeare Translation as Cultural Exchange, “Shakespeare Survey” 1995, vol. 48, pp. 1‒12.

Fernández Guerra A., Translating Culture: Problems, Strategies and Practical Realities, “SIC, A Journal of Literary Translation, Art and Subversion” 2012, vol. 1, no. 3,
pp. 1‒27.

Genette G., Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation, J.E. Lewin (transl.), Cambridge 1997.

Gibińska M., ‘Bottom thou art translated’: Translation as a Boundary and a Bridge, in: Ch. Jansohn, L. Cowen Orlin, S. Wells (eds.),Shakespeare without Boundaries: Essays in Honor of Dieter Mehl, Newark 2011, pp. 283‒291.

Gibson R., Teaching Shakespeare, Cambridge 1998.

Gostand R., Verbal and Non-verbal Communication: Drama as Translation, in: O. Zuber (ed.),The Language of Theatre. Problems in Translation and Transposition of Drama, Oxford‒New York 1980, pp. 1‒9.

Gurr A., Maximal and Minimal Texts: Shakespeare v. the Globe, in: S. Wells (ed.), Shakespeare Survey, vol. 52, Cambridge 1999, pp. 68‒87.

Hoenselaars T., Introduction, in: idem (ed.), Shakespeare and the Language of Translation, London 2012, pp. 1‒30.

Johnston D., Narratives of Translation in Performance: Collaborative Acts, in: G. Brodie, E. Cole (eds.), Adapting Translation for the Stage, New York 2017, pp. 236‒249.

Jowett J., The First Folio, in: Shakespeare and Text, Oxford Shakespeare Topics, Oxford 2007.

Laera M., Theatre Translation as Collaboration: Aleks Sierz, Martin Crimp, Nathalie Abrahami, Colin Teevan, ZoëSvendsen and Michael Walton discuss Translation for the Stage, “Contemporary Theatre Review” 2001, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 213‒225.

Neill M., The World Beyond: Shakespeare and the Tropes of Translation, in: Putting History to the Question: Power, Politics, and Society in English Renaissance Drama, New York 2000, pp. 399‒418.

Newmark P., Approaches to Translation, Oxford 1981.

Newmark P., A Textbook of Translation, London‒New York 1988.

Nida E., Toward a Science of Translating with Special Reference to Principles and Procedures Involved in Bible Translating, Leiden 1964.

Pavis P., Problems of Translation for the Stage: Interculturalism and Post-modern Theatre, L. Kruger (transl.), in: H. Scolnicov, P. Holland (eds.),The Play Out of Context: Transferring Plays from Culture to Culture, Cambridge 1989, pp. 25‒44.

Pavis P., Theatre at the Crossroads of Culture, London 1992.

Peghinelli A., Theatre Translation as Collaboration: A Case in Point in British Contemporary Drama, “Journal for Communication and Culture” 2012, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 20‒30.

Shakespeare W., La Tempestad, traducción, introducción y notas by Paula Baldwin Lind and Braulio Fernández Biggs, Santiago 2010.

Shakespeare W., The Tempest, V. Mason Vaughan, A.T. Vaughan (eds.), The Arden Shakespeare, Third Series, London 2006.

Taylor G., Why did Shakespeare Collaborate?, in: P. Holland (ed.),Shakespeare Survey, vol. 67: Shakespeare’s Collaborative Work, Cambridge 2004, pp. 1‒17.

Tylor E.B.,Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom,London 1871.

Wells S., Re-editing Shakespeare for the Modern Reader [electronic resource]: Based on Lectures Given at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington D.C., Oxford 1984.

Information

Information: Studia Litteraria Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis, 2018, Volume 13, Issue 3, pp. 219 - 235

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4467/20843933ST.18.020.8963

Article type: Original article

Titles:

Polish:

Translating Shakespeare, Translating Culture. Text, Paratext, and the Challenges of Recreating Cultural Meanings in Text and on Stage

English:

Translating Shakespeare, Translating Culture. Text, Paratext, and the Challenges of Recreating Cultural Meanings in Text and on Stage

Authors

Paula Baldwin Lind

Universidad de los Andes, Chile

Published at: 31.10.2018

Article status: Open

Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Percentage share of authors:

Paula Baldwin Lind (Author) - 100%

Article corrections:

-

Publication languages:

English

View count: 1156

Number of downloads: 854

<p> Translating Shakespeare, Translating Culture. Text, Paratext, and the Challenges of Recreating Cultural Meanings in Text and on Stage</p>

Pobierz pełny tekst

Titles

Abstract

Keywords

References

Information

Authors