lost in translation

I wanted to explore the subject of translation. We have discussed in class various translations of the plays we have read, mostly the wizard’s opinions on the different editors and their styles as most students have not read other translations of the plays. I read a different translation of Lysistrata than was in our book and upon reading the version in the book felt I had a different experience as a result. The version I read employed various accents and speech qualities, such as rhyming and cadence for coral work. The result was very effective. Reading it out loud also helped, but the work felt much more like a ensemble work rather than reading a classical piece of text. The other thing I noted was that the Douglass version (not the one in our book) went into far more detail with the dialogue of Klyonike and Lysistata so when I read the textbook version I realized there were a large amount of lines and details that were left out. So how important is it to remain true to the text? I usually am more upset with translators who deviate from the more authentic or literal meaning of the words (I can be real elitist like that), but not only do I not speak Greek, I realized that the playing with the chorus made it more fun and bearable, especially for one who generally likes to skip the chorus monologues. I am starting to understand the need for accessibility of these older texts. For instance, Everest’s version of Amphitrion contains many plays on meaning and word games that I have a strong notion do not come from the original text. However, if a playwright’s lexiconic brilliance does not carry over into another language how much room should the translator have for imposing his own little nuances into the work. I just have no idea how one goes about this sort of work. For others translation of Shakespeare or Joyce must be equally difficult. A man once tried to translate Finnegan’s Wake into Italian once. It took him the better part of two decades to do and when finished he stated that it was a fool’s errand. In theatre purpose can be found performance when we both as performers and as audience engage in the act of creation. We must ultimately find some meaning or connection in the work; we must in some way have walked away from the performance a better individual either by causing us to question ourselves or have found connection to our fellow man. When this does not occurred, we have all of us failed There are no original stories, no original ideas, the only thing that changes over time is the way we tell them and who we tell them to. These adaptations are meant to achieve such ends.

blessings be
Lord Addison