Dear Naomi,
first of all, thank you for the kind words.
you and others have commented on the complexity of translation, or
"transmission" as Irene Marchigiani suggests, or interpretation, as I would
prefer; to render a text in a new media (language). To translate is to
re-write, partly? I suppose yes. In the same way, then, that there will
never be a final interpretation of Macbeth on the stage, there will never be
the perfect translation of Dante or Catullus, or Sofocles.
Another aspect of translations is the different perception that people have
of their own language. In Italy, the environment in which I grew up, the
combination of classical heritage made us accept (at least in my own time, I
do not know now), the reading of Greek and Latin Classics in translations.
In most schools, most of Iliade, Oedissey and Aeneid, translated in Italian,
were read.
In English schools this would be unthinkable. As a contrast, the study of
dead languages is taken far more seriously and they are studied in depth. I
suspect (a bit unfairly) that, because of the great pride in their own
language, the English have a low opinion of translation of foreign works;
if it were such a great work, it would have been written in English...
sergio
----- Original Message -----
From: naomi ritter <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, November 23, 2000 5:33 PM
Subject: Re: DANTE
> NO reader is unqualified! And your question is far from naive, reflecting
> as it does your knowledge of Italian poets. Here's a possible answer:
> some poets may find translating less creative and less satisfying than
> writing original poems.
>
>
> On Thu, 23 Nov 2000, Sergio Viggiani wrote:
>
> > I wish to thank all those who have replied to my request for information
on the COMMEDY's translations.
> >
> > May I, as a simple unqualified reader, ask make a naive comment, which
does not necesarily warrant an answer: why are most translations available,
by scholars. Don't poets feel challenged by the poem? As Ted Highes did by
Ovid?
> >
> > In Italy, the practice is that all major poets have a go at translating
poetical works. Ungaretti, Montale, Quasimodo, all translated, some more
than once, Shakespeare sonets, at the Greek and Latin lyrical poetry, and
others.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> *******************************
> Naomi Ritter
> Instructional Developer, School of Continuing Studies
> 305 Owen Hall, Indiana University
> Bloomington IN 47405-7101
>
> (812) 855-9745 FAX (812)-855-8680
>
> [log in to unmask]
>
> www.indiana.edu/~scs
>
>
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