Intertextuality in nineteenth-century Italian librettos: To translate or not to translate?
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Miquel Edo
Abstract
This study looks at whether it is feasible or desirable to translate stylistic intertextuality in opera librettos, particularly wording and utterances from late medieval and Renaissance Italian poetry which are put into the mouths of dramatic characters in 19th- and early 20th-century Italian operas. The paper describes the various techniques available to deal with such situations and notes that they are incompatible with a modernising-naturalising strategy. Rather, they can be used only as part of an archaising modality of translation that audiences and critics only accept in a diluted form. The discussion that follows is essentially based on two scenes from Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur.
Abstract
This study looks at whether it is feasible or desirable to translate stylistic intertextuality in opera librettos, particularly wording and utterances from late medieval and Renaissance Italian poetry which are put into the mouths of dramatic characters in 19th- and early 20th-century Italian operas. The paper describes the various techniques available to deal with such situations and notes that they are incompatible with a modernising-naturalising strategy. Rather, they can be used only as part of an archaising modality of translation that audiences and critics only accept in a diluted form. The discussion that follows is essentially based on two scenes from Francesco Cilea’s Adriana Lecouvreur.
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
