I think it was Rimbaud who said all poetry is a translation --from inner
to outer worlds.
On Thu, 23 Nov 2000, Sergio Viggiani wrote:
> 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
> >
> >
>
>
>
*******************************
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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