chronotopos – A Journal of Translation History
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Building “translating institutions” in nineteenth-century national contexts: The proto-history of institutional translators as a professional group
No full textThis article looks at the professionalisation of institutional translation in multilingual countries in the nineteenth century, i.e. before the first academic training and research institutions were established in the field of translation. First of all, the article presents a case study focusing on the Swiss federal institutions from 1848 to 1914. Several types of sources from digitised public archives are used to examine specifically to what extent, how and why institutional translation became professionalised in that context, and to put together a profile for nineteenth century federal translators. Following this, the findings of the case study are linked with elements of translator history that can be derived from existing research on other multilingual countries. Several thematic clusters are identified which can be suggested as a basis for developing comparative and relational approaches. The article highlights the relevance of such approaches in contributing to a history of translation knowledge and practice, as well as their potential for stimulating theoretical reflection on institutional translation as a professional occupation.Institutional translators were employed in several multilingual countries in the nineteenth century, well before the first academic training and research institutions were established in the field of translation. Looking at the history of these translators can enrich our understanding of both the history of the countries in question and the professionalisation of translation. This article presents a case study focusing on the Swiss federal institutions from 1848 to 1914. Sources from digitised public archives are used to examine to what extent, how and why institutional translation became professionalised in that context, and to put together a profile for nineteenth century federal translators. Following this, the findings of the case study are linked with elements of translator history that can be derived from existing research on other multilingual countries. Various thematic clusters are identified, which can be used as a basis for developing comparative and relational approaches. The article highlights the relevance of such approaches in contributing to a history of translation knowledge and practice, as well as their potential for stimulating theoretical reflection on processes of professionalisation.
 
August Scholz in der DDR oder die verflochtene Geschichte eines Übersetzernachlasses
Full text linkDie vorliegende empirische Studie rekonstruiert anhand von Primärquellen aus dem Archiv der Akademie der Künste in Berlin die Geschichte der 1968–69 geführten Verhandlungen zur Übernahme des Nachlasses des Russischübersetzers August Scholz (1857–1923). Die Verhandlungen führten die Erbin des Übersetzers Johanna Scholz-Jahn und die damalige Deutsche Akademie der Künste der DDR. Der Schwerpunkt liegt zum einen auf der diachronen Kontextualisierung der Ereignisse und zum anderen auf der Rolle, die einzelne Akteure im Westen und der DDR mit ihren jeweiligen Interessen, Motiven und Einstellungen zur Translation dabei gespielt haben. Es wird aufgezeigt, dass man die Geschichte der Translation in der DDR als eine Verflechtungsgeschichte betrachten und erforschen kann
“Translationskultur der DDR.” Conference Report Department of Translation Studies, University of Graz, November 29th & 30th, 2024
Full text linkRepresenting translation in a documentary about one of the world’s most translated songs: ‘Translatedness’ in Peter Miller’s The Internationale (2000)
Full text linkThis paper analyses ‘translatedness’ – representations of translation and the ways and extent to which the act of translation are made explicit – in the short documentary The Internationale (2000). How is translation represented in a film about one of the world’s most widely translated and disseminated songs? Drawing inspiration from film narratology, it first examines the auditive and visual meaning-making resources at work in the documentary, keying in on how these combine in complex ways to render translatedness and give it meaning. Four representation types emerge from the analysis: translation as music; translation as a result (rather than as a prerequisite) of worldwide dissemination; (non)translation and multilingual choruses; and cultural translation. These inform a discussion of the ideological implications of a documentary narrative that acknowledges the pivotal role of translation in the song’s international dissemination but ultimately portrays (re)translation into English as the best way to revive its change potential and redeem it from past misuses. This seeming Anglocentrism sits somewhat uneasily alongside the song’s long and varied translation history and its past ideological investments
Retranslation as Re-accentuation : On the Epistemology and Poetics of Retranslation
No full textIn this paper, we try to answer the often repeated call for more theory-building on retranslation, by discussing the shortcomings of the still dominant ‘retranslation hypothesis’, and some of the problematic received ideas associated with it, regarding retranslations’ novelty, their difference as compared to first or earlier translations, and the ageing of translations as opposed to originals (Section 1). Bringing together the topical issues of difference and historical time, we then discuss an epistemology of change in retranslation, based on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of reaccentuation, in which text and context come together (Section 2). The final part of this paper (Section 3) proposes three possible avenues toward a poetics of retranslation, which address each of the three misleading ideas examined in Section 1, revisiting these in the light of the epistemology of change discussed in Section 2. From the examples given, of Dutch and French translations of Laclos, Joyce and O’Brien, emerges a poetics of retranslation that we shall describe as a re-dialogising, re-complexifying, palimpsestic re-accentuation, that brings change regarding how works of literature are known in the target context
Die Rolle der Translation in der internationalen Wissenskommunikation der DDR : Am Beispiel der Übersetzung des ersten Bandes des Курс теоретической физики von Lev Landaus und Jewgeni Lifschitz
Full text linkDie Übersetzung des ersten Bands des „Курс теоретической физики“ von Lev Landau und Jewgeni Lifschitz eröffnet die Perspektive auf die Rolle der Translation in der internationalen Wissenskommunikation der DDR. Ursprünglich 1957 in Moskau veröffentlicht, wurde das Werk vom Akademie Verlag in der DDR in Übersetzung verlegt. Die Übersetzung zeigt die wissenschaftspolitischen und ökonomischen Motive der DDR, die internationale Vernetzung und den Export von Fachliteratur zu fördern, sowohl zur Stärkung der Beziehungen zur UdSSR als auch zur mit Blick auf einen Export in die BRD. Der Prozess zeigt die hohe Qualität und den prestigeträchtigen Charakter des Projekts. Die Arbeit hebt zudem die unterschiedlichen Gestaltungsmöglichkeiten des Übersetzers, die komplexen Akteurskonstellationen sowie die langfristige wirtschaftliche Verwertbarkeit des Werkes hervor und liefert Erkenntnisse zu den Zusammenhängen von Wissenschafts-, Verlags- und Zeitgeschichte in der DDR und darüber hinaus
,Internationale DDR-Literatur’: Maria Bambergs Übersetzungen von Carlos Fuentes bei Volk und Welt
Full text linkAls Leitverlag für internationale Gegenwartsliteratur nahm der Verlag Volk und Welt vor allem für die Vermittlung lateinamerikanischer Literatur eine zentrale Rolle ein. Noch vor dem ,Lateinamerika-Programm’ bei Suhrkamp wurden viele dieser Autor:innen bereits bei Volk und Welt publiziert. Von Carlos Fuentes sind fast alle Romane bei Volk und Welt erschienen, die meisten in der Übersetzung von Maria Bamberg. Die Materialien im Verlagsarchiv von Volk und Welt (Akademie der Künste, Berlin) geben nicht nur Aufschluss darüber, durch welche Netzwerke es möglich war, Fuentes in der DDR zu publizieren, sondern auch darüber, gegen welche Zensurmaßstäbe und Tabus die Gutachter:innen für eine Publikationsgenehmigung anschreiben mussten. Die unterschiedlichen Rahmenbedingungen zeigen sich besonders deutlich bei deutsch-deutschen Lizenzausgaben. Vor diesem Hintergrund richtet der Beitrag den Fokus auf die Werke von Fuentes, die als Lizenzausgabe mit der Deutschen Verlags-Anstalt bei Volk und Welt erschienen sind. Auf Basis der Analyse der Materialien im Verlagsarchiv Volk und Welt (Korrespondenzen, Gutachten, interne Verlagsnotizen) sollen zum einen die zu umgehenden Tabus sowie die Verlagsstrategien zur Vermeidung der Zensur untersucht werden und zum anderen die Rolle Bambergs bei diesem Vermittlungsprozess. Ziel ist es, somit herauszuarbeiten, was diese Werke als ,internationale DDR-Literatur’ im Sinne von Siegfried Lokatis charakterisiert
Playboy, Hero, Champion – Retranslations of J. M. Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World in Hungary
No full textThis paper looks at four Hungarian translations of John Millington Synge’s play, The Playboy of the Western World (1907) – the published first translation that introduced the Irish writer’s work to Hungarian readers in 1960 and three retranslations commissioned for specific theatre performances of the play (Nádasdy, 2004; Benedek, 2013; Hamvai, 2019). Through the case study, the paper investigates the ways in which Synge’s modern classic, rooted in the historical specificity of the Irish cultural nationalist movement in the early twentieth century, is enabled to speak, through translation and retranslation, to Hungarian audiences from 1960 to the present. The exploration of retranslations focuses on the rendering of unique language use in dramatic literature, in this case, dialect. The Hiberno-English dialect of the play is its most conspicuous and challenging feature, partly because it has manyfold functions not easily transferrable for a non-Irish audience. The retranslators of Synge’s play approach the problems posed by translating dialect in various different ways, which in turn leads to the reaccentuation of different aspects of the play. The paper concludes considering the impact of retranslation on the play’s presence in Hungary with the observation that the strategies (re)translators use for rendering the play’s unique language is motivated by the context of the specific production, but in general, retranslation contributes significantly to the canonization of the play in Hungary
