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World World Vast World of Poetic Translation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2022

Jean R. Longland
Jean R. Longland*
Affiliation:
The Hispanic Society of America
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They say it is impossible to re-create a poem in another language, and perhaps it is. It is also irresistible.

Translators may attempt the impossible because they want to share their enjoyment or because they need versions for teaching or because they like word games-translation is as much fun as DoubleCrostics. My own reason is the challenge of the irresistible; I am like the mountain climber who says, “Because it's there.” And in fact, mountain climbing and poetic translation have some points in common. The translator and the climber may find smooth stretches on their rough paths, and they both struggle upward, but at the goal the similarity disappears, for the climber may succeed absolutely. There are no absolute successes in translation, which John Ciardi calls the art of failure. On the other hand, the translator will never find himself in the anticlimactic position of having climbed Mount Everest. He always has more worlds to attempt to conquer, and his old worlds to improve.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , 1977 , pp. 67 - 86
Copyright
Copyright © 1977 by the University of Texas Press

References

Recommended Books

Adams, Robert M. 1973 Proteus, His Lies, His Truth; Discussions of Literary Translation. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.Google Scholar
AMERICAN TRANSLATORS ASSOCIATION 1972 Poetic Translation; a Panel Discussion, ed. Jean R. Longland. Croton-on-Hudson, New York.Google Scholar
Arrowsmith, William, and Shattuck, Roger 1961 The Craft & Context of Translation. Austin: The University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Brower, Reuben A. 1966 On Translation. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Mascherpe, Mario, and Zamarin, Laura 1968 A Tradução do Inglês para o Português; os Falsos Cognatos. São Paulo: Gráfica Editôra Brasileira.Google Scholar
P. E. N. AMERICAN CENTER 1969 Manifesto on Translation. New York.Google Scholar
Mascherpe, Mario, and Zamarin, Laura 1971 The World of Translation. New York. (Includes Manifesto on Translation)Google Scholar
Steiner, George 1975 After Babel; Aspects of Language and Translation. New York and London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Tate, Allen 1972 The Translation of Poetry. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress.Google Scholar
Taylor, James L. 1970 A Portuguese-English Dictionary, Revised … with Corrections and Additions by the Author and Priscilla Clark Martin. Stanford: Stanford University Press. (Excellent for false cognates and Brazilian flora and fauna.) Reprinted: Rio de Janeiro—São Paulo: Distribuidora Record, 1973.Google Scholar

Recommended Periodicals

The ATA Chronicle (Croton-on-Hudson, New York: American Translators Association).Google Scholar
Babel: Revue Internationale de la Traduction (Frankfurt am Main: Fédération Internationale des Traducteurs).Google Scholar
Contemporary Literature in Translation, nos. 1-12 (Vancouver: Department of Creative Writing, University of British Columbia, 1968-72). (Contains translations only.)Google Scholar
Delos; a Journal on & of Translation, nos. 1-6 (Austin: National Translation Center, 1968-71)Google Scholar
The Incorporated Linguist; the Journal of the Institute of Linguists (London).Google Scholar
Modern Poetry in Translation (London). (Contains translations and reviews only.)Google Scholar
Translation (New York: Columbia University School of the Arts and P. E. N. American Center).Google Scholar