Multilingual libretti across linguistic borders and translation modes
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Marta Mateo
Abstract
Following up my research on multilingualism in opera production, reception and translation, this paper goes further into the relationship between translation and linguistically heterogeneous libretti, now focusing on the texts themselves. Plurilingual operas encourage reflection on how important it is to understand the semantic content of the various languages in order to grasp the comunicative value and / or enjoy these works; the advisability of neutralising the verbal diversity – integral to their meaning – in the translation process must be questioned too. The paper also analyses the translation strategies used in subtitling and CD inserts for some multilingual libretti, which show varying functions and degrees of heteroglossia, in order to observe whether those textual features determine translation choices as much as the translation mode.
Abstract
Following up my research on multilingualism in opera production, reception and translation, this paper goes further into the relationship between translation and linguistically heterogeneous libretti, now focusing on the texts themselves. Plurilingual operas encourage reflection on how important it is to understand the semantic content of the various languages in order to grasp the comunicative value and / or enjoy these works; the advisability of neutralising the verbal diversity – integral to their meaning – in the translation process must be questioned too. The paper also analyses the translation strategies used in subtitling and CD inserts for some multilingual libretti, which show varying functions and degrees of heteroglossia, in order to observe whether those textual features determine translation choices as much as the translation mode.
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
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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
-
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
