“Ordne die Reih’n”
-
Klaus Kaindl
Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the translation politics in the field of opera in the Third Reich with a special focus on the three Mozart-Da Ponte operas. Mozart was considered as a central part of the German culture. His collaboration with the Jewish librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte and the fact that the most popular German translation at the time came from the Jewish conductor Hermann Levi forced the Nazi authorities to create a new translation. In the first section of the article I will analyse the various front lines in this translation war, drawing on Bourdieu’s field theory. The second part of this paper investigates the strategies adopted by a committee which Goebbels established in order to create a new translation of the Mozart operas. The last section of the article is then dedicated to Georg Schünemann, the translator who was nominated by the committee, and his translatorial habitus.
Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the translation politics in the field of opera in the Third Reich with a special focus on the three Mozart-Da Ponte operas. Mozart was considered as a central part of the German culture. His collaboration with the Jewish librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte and the fact that the most popular German translation at the time came from the Jewish conductor Hermann Levi forced the Nazi authorities to create a new translation. In the first section of the article I will analyse the various front lines in this translation war, drawing on Bourdieu’s field theory. The second part of this paper investigates the strategies adopted by a committee which Goebbels established in order to create a new translation of the Mozart operas. The last section of the article is then dedicated to Georg Schünemann, the translator who was nominated by the committee, and his translatorial habitus.
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
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
