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Chapter 4. Have English translations of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung , an icon of German culture, been affected by the changing relationship between Germany and Britain in the twentieth century?

  • Karen Wilson-deRoze
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Key Cultural Texts in Translation
This chapter is in the book Key Cultural Texts in Translation

Abstract

To some, the message of The Ring of the Nibelung is that love and sacrifice can redeem the world; for others, like G.B. Shaw1, it is a capitalist drama. For many, the Ring is quintessentially German, for others, its mythic themes are universal. Its Germanness is examined in this article in terms of nationalism expressed as a dialectic between German and non-German, specifically Jews. I address the debate of whether or not Wagner’s anti-Semitism is evident in the libretto and music of the Ring and discuss whether translators, working before and after the two World Wars, have censored or adjusted Wagner’s language for present-day tastes. I conclude that any interpretation of the Ring as anti-Semitic does not appear to have influenced the translation choices of post-war translators.

Abstract

To some, the message of The Ring of the Nibelung is that love and sacrifice can redeem the world; for others, like G.B. Shaw1, it is a capitalist drama. For many, the Ring is quintessentially German, for others, its mythic themes are universal. Its Germanness is examined in this article in terms of nationalism expressed as a dialectic between German and non-German, specifically Jews. I address the debate of whether or not Wagner’s anti-Semitism is evident in the libretto and music of the Ring and discuss whether translators, working before and after the two World Wars, have censored or adjusted Wagner’s language for present-day tastes. I conclude that any interpretation of the Ring as anti-Semitic does not appear to have influenced the translation choices of post-war translators.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. About the contributors xi
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Gender and identity
  6. Chapter 1. Genos , sex, gender and genre 9
  7. Chapter 2. Dancing through the waves of feminism 25
  8. Part II. Texts and politics
  9. Chapter 3. Bartolomé de Las Casas’ Breve Relación de la Destrucción de Las Indias ( Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies ) (1552) in translation 37
  10. Chapter 4. Have English translations of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung , an icon of German culture, been affected by the changing relationship between Germany and Britain in the twentieth century? 53
  11. Chapter 5. Communicating change 79
  12. Part III. Texts and places
  13. Chapter 6. Lithuanian literature in English 95
  14. Chapter 7. Woest of wild 115
  15. Chapter 8. Polish dance in Eugene Onegin 131
  16. Part IV. Occident and Orient
  17. Chapter 9. The image of H. C. Andersen’s tales in China (1909–1925) 153
  18. Chapter 10. The cultural transformation of classical Chinese poetry in translation into English 171
  19. Chapter 11. The immigration of key cultural icons 185
  20. Chapter 12. Reproduction and reception of the concepts of Confucianism, Buddhism and polygamy 203
  21. Part V. Translating philosophy
  22. Chapter 13. Hegel’s Phenomenology 221
  23. Chapter 14. Adorno refracted 235
  24. Part VI. Text types
  25. Chapter 15. Construction of a cultural narrative through translation 257
  26. Chapter 16. Cultural satirical features in translation 275
  27. Chapter 17. Alterity, orality and performance in Bible translation 299
  28. Index of concepts 315
  29. Index of names 319
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.140.04wil

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents vii
  3. About the contributors xi
  4. Introduction 1
  5. Part I. Gender and identity
  6. Chapter 1. Genos , sex, gender and genre 9
  7. Chapter 2. Dancing through the waves of feminism 25
  8. Part II. Texts and politics
  9. Chapter 3. Bartolomé de Las Casas’ Breve Relación de la Destrucción de Las Indias ( Brief Account of the Destruction of the Indies ) (1552) in translation 37
  10. Chapter 4. Have English translations of Wagner’s Ring of the Nibelung , an icon of German culture, been affected by the changing relationship between Germany and Britain in the twentieth century? 53
  11. Chapter 5. Communicating change 79
  12. Part III. Texts and places
  13. Chapter 6. Lithuanian literature in English 95
  14. Chapter 7. Woest of wild 115
  15. Chapter 8. Polish dance in Eugene Onegin 131
  16. Part IV. Occident and Orient
  17. Chapter 9. The image of H. C. Andersen’s tales in China (1909–1925) 153
  18. Chapter 10. The cultural transformation of classical Chinese poetry in translation into English 171
  19. Chapter 11. The immigration of key cultural icons 185
  20. Chapter 12. Reproduction and reception of the concepts of Confucianism, Buddhism and polygamy 203
  21. Part V. Translating philosophy
  22. Chapter 13. Hegel’s Phenomenology 221
  23. Chapter 14. Adorno refracted 235
  24. Part VI. Text types
  25. Chapter 15. Construction of a cultural narrative through translation 257
  26. Chapter 16. Cultural satirical features in translation 275
  27. Chapter 17. Alterity, orality and performance in Bible translation 299
  28. Index of concepts 315
  29. Index of names 319
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