I would like to add a few comments to the very intelligent and informative
ones made by Gatt-Rutter.
In addition to questions of interpretation and meaning of any given text,
there is the "poetic" (sound, rhythm and so on) aspect that challenges
translators. At times, translators are poets themselves and wish to produce
a work that could mirror and reflect the original in addition to and beyond
its meaning. Furthermore, as we all know, languages develop and change
constantly, so any given translation, perhaps beautiful and close to the
original meaning in a specific historical period, is not so anymore after a
number of years. The various translators' cultural background changes with
the passage of time and it is inevitably influenced by the prevalent
historical "atmosphere": This is always reflected in the translation.
Therefore, the need for new and updated translations, considering also the
ever changing background of the readership. In conclusion, translating is
always a question of combining sound and sign/meaning and the reader's
sensibility towards these two factors changes with time. This does not
mean that "old" translations are not valid anymore, but does not exclude
that we should welcome new ones. For example, years ago Monti's translation
of Homer was the only one available to Italian students who found it very
difficult to understand. Today, however, while in the classrooms other
translations are used, Monti can still be read and appreciated for its own
value. Personally, I like to use the terms "transmission" and
"transmitting" in place of translating. Thanks for the opportunity to touch
upon a very interesting question! Irene Marchegiani Jones
-----Original Message-----
From: John Gatt-Rutter <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tuesday, November 21, 2000 5:29 PM
Subject: Re: DANTE translation
>Pat Sloane's fascinating comment on the proliferation of Dante translations
>merits some further comment I think. It presumes what those of us who work
>at the language-"reality" interface, or at the interface between two
>natural languages, would never even consider: that any word, group of
>words, statement, or utterance, let alone a dense poem composed of one
>hundred cantos of about 150 lines each, can possibly have a single
>unequivocal and uniquely translatable meaning. Philosophical discussions
>of language have always highlighted the polyvalence or fuzziness of
>language, particularly in the twentieth century, with logical positivism,
>speech act theory and latterly with Derridian "différence" and
>deconstruction. The philosopher Willard Quine in in the 1950s illustrated
>the indeterminacy of any single utterance precisely in terms of its
>"translation indeterminacy". No wonder translation studies these days are
>going from strength to strength. If within ONE language, meanings are so
>elusive and hard to negotiate, how much more so BETWEEN languages. Beware
>of the nominalist fallacy that there is a reality out there that pre-exists
>language and survives translation into any one language (let alone more
>than one language simultaneously)! Which is not to say that the "meaning"
>of the Divina Commedia is the sum total of the "meanings" of all possible
>translations of the work into every available language. Dante is not unique
>in this, except by reason of his towering importance. People will have
>noticed how many translations there around these days of Machiavelli's The
>Prince (or Dostoevsky's Notes from Underground - under various titles).
>
>Can I take this opportunity to flag to interested parties the ever more
>imminent publication of THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LITERARY TRANSLATION INTO
>ENGLISH edited by Olive Class for Fitzroy Dearborn (London). It has its
>own website, viz. - http://www.fitzroydearborn.com/london/littrans.htm
>
>
>john g-r
>
>>In a message dated 11/21/00 2:13:11 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>>[log in to unmask] writes:
>>
>>> Professor Hollander's translation of the "Inferno" just came out.
>>>
>>> Random House/Doubleday
>>> ISBN: 0-385-49697-4
>>>
>>> Eduardo Fichera
>>
>>Why is it that practically every year there's a new translation of the
>>Commedia? Is it especially hard to translate for some reason? Is there
such
>>a thing as a definitive English translation? Singleton was recommended to
me
>>some years ago. But obviously he isn't that "authoritative" if so many
people
>>have subsequently issued translations of their own.
>>
>>pat sloane
>
>
>John Gatt-Rutter
>Vaccari Professor in Italian Studies
>Head - School of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics
>La Trobe University
>(Melbourne) Victoria 3086
>AUSTRALIA
>TEL: (#61)-3-9479-1933
>FAX: European Studies - (#61)-3-9479-1453
>
>
>
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