Jeremy Tiang’s discussion of theatre in translation brought to light a number of interesting issues regarding process and power in translation. I appreciate that he began his talk discussing how the very selection of plays worth translating (or re-translating) is not random or invisible or neutral, but rather, an intentional part of the translation process at large. By devoting resources and time to translating the same “classics,” the act of translation can serve to reinscribe old hierarchies of power, underscoring rather than expanding an existing canon. (Why, Tiang asks, are we allocating so many resources to retranslating old works of the past? What about more contemporary works, from different geographies and languages?)
He goes on to examine the process of translating a play, which often involves using the “bad” literal translation provided by the “invisible” translator to be passed off to a celebrity playwright who adapts this literal translation “artistically.” Of course, Tiang points out, this is already a flawed way of understanding process, as there is no such thing as an invisible translator; even providing a “literal” interpretation is more an art than a science, and always a subjective one! The celebrity playwright is often foregrounded, while the work of the translator is hidden and undervalued. Tiang references a quote from Geraldine Bodine, that translating—and especially re-translating “classics”—depends on the “novelty value” of the celebrity playwright; that “the advertisers need to give their prospective audience a reason to buy a ticket for a play they have seen before.” This, too, reinscribes existing hierarchies of power: those who are already recognized are centered in order to bring in a paying audience. (Who, exactly, is that paying audience? Is that imagined demographic also a part of the problem?)
This process, some critics argue, is also clunky, like "performing brain surgery wearing thick gloves.” I’m curious if this is universally true, that this extra step in the process inherently creates an additional degree of distance between the source text and the end translation? It will be interesting to see what it feels like to translate directly later in the semester and compare it to working from a trot.
This “invisible” translator → celebrity playwright translation process seems to be dominant in theatre, perhaps because the space for adaptation and novelty are built into the form and industry more so than with, say, novels. (Who among us has picked up a new translation of The Brothers Karamazov just to see if we’re moved by the newest translation?) Though, as a side note: I was reminded of Mónica de la Torre’s lecture about the UNESCO anthology of Mexican poetry, where Samuel Beckett was meant to serve as a kind of celebrity translator, chosen less for his knowledge of Spanish and interest in Mexican literature, both of which were minimal, but rather, for the brilliance he could bring to the poems-in-translation themselves. By including celebrity translators/adapters, are you always at risk of undermining the lesser-known artists involved, like the (literal) translators? And when is involving a celebrity translator an act of honoring the original versus devaluing or minimizing it?
Patrice Pavis' "On Faithfulness" brings to light the additional intermediaries doing serious interpretative work between the text and reader/spectator/consumer. The very act of moving from text to performance is a kind of translation, and one that involves a remarkable number of translators, most obviously the director, but also the actors, as well as, I would imagine, the set designers and costume designers. This reanimates a lot of the questions Tiang raises: If translation and interpretation are always part of putting on a play, whose translational work is privileged in theatre, and why? It’s also interesting to consider where fidelity is held sacred, like in the text/performance relationship, and where it’s shunned (literal translations vs. the novelty of a new celebrity playwright.)
- Abbey Perreault
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