The voice of the translator
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Cindy S.B. Ngai
Abstract
There have been discussions about the concept of the translator’s voice, and the visibility of the translator in the practice of translation. However, questions relating to what actually makes the translator visible and visibility as a strategic act remain under-explored. This chapter examines the impact of the translator’s assumptions about visibility, and the translation strategies adopted. Special attention will be paid to opera translation from Chinese into English, using The Peony Pavilion as a case in point. Through text-based comparison and analysis of paratexts, it is revealed that the translator’s voice emerges as a result of the translation strategy used, and is underpinned by the translator’s assumptions.
Abstract
There have been discussions about the concept of the translator’s voice, and the visibility of the translator in the practice of translation. However, questions relating to what actually makes the translator visible and visibility as a strategic act remain under-explored. This chapter examines the impact of the translator’s assumptions about visibility, and the translation strategies adopted. Special attention will be paid to opera translation from Chinese into English, using The Peony Pavilion as a case in point. Through text-based comparison and analysis of paratexts, it is revealed that the translator’s voice emerges as a result of the translation strategy used, and is underpinned by the translator’s assumptions.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Open perspectives
- Opera and intercultural musicology as modes of translation 13
- Surtitles and the multi-semiotic balance 35
- Tradition and transgression 53
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Across genres and media
- When Mei Lanfang encountered Fei Mu 75
- Fluid borders: From Carmen to The Car Man . Bourne’s ballet in the light of post-translation 95
- Aesthetics of translation 117
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Text and context
- Translations, adaptations or rewritings? 135
- The voice of the translator 159
- “Ordne die Reih’n” 175
- The migration of Madama Butterfly 195
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From text to stage
- The intertwined nature of music, language and culture in Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle 219
- Translating Wagner’s Versmelodie 243
- Operetta in Turkey 271
-
Libretto translation revisited
- Two English translations of Jaroslav Kvapil’s Rusalka libretto 291
- Intertextuality in nineteenth-century Italian librettos: To translate or not to translate? 315
- Multilingual libretti across linguistic borders and translation modes 337
- About the contributors 359
- Index 365
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Open perspectives
- Opera and intercultural musicology as modes of translation 13
- Surtitles and the multi-semiotic balance 35
- Tradition and transgression 53
-
Across genres and media
- When Mei Lanfang encountered Fei Mu 75
- Fluid borders: From Carmen to The Car Man . Bourne’s ballet in the light of post-translation 95
- Aesthetics of translation 117
-
Text and context
- Translations, adaptations or rewritings? 135
- The voice of the translator 159
- “Ordne die Reih’n” 175
- The migration of Madama Butterfly 195
-
From text to stage
- The intertwined nature of music, language and culture in Bartók’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle 219
- Translating Wagner’s Versmelodie 243
- Operetta in Turkey 271
-
Libretto translation revisited
- Two English translations of Jaroslav Kvapil’s Rusalka libretto 291
- Intertextuality in nineteenth-century Italian librettos: To translate or not to translate? 315
- Multilingual libretti across linguistic borders and translation modes 337
- About the contributors 359
- Index 365
