A Letter of Federico García Lorca to His Parents, 1935 Translated By
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Volume 1 Compilation 2019-2020 Edited by Marta Mateo, Juan Manuel Arias, and Natalie Ramírez RT/TC 009 (2020) ISSN: 2694-2801 (online) / 2694-281X (print) 2 Rincón de Traductores/Translators’ Corner 009 (2020) ISSN: 2694-2801 (online) 2694-281X (print) Instituto Cervantes at FAS - Harvard University © Instituto Cervantes at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University TABLE OF CONTENTS Presentation Marta Mateo Martínez de Bartolomé ……………………………………………………………………………………………5 A Letter of Federico García Lorca to his Parents, 1935 translated by Christopher Maurer ………………………………………………………………….…………….………………11 3 “In the Parks, at Dusk” and “I Only Think of You” by Marina Mayoral / translated by María Socorro Suárez Lafuente ………………………………………………………………….…………….………………19 “Like a Night with Legs Wide Open” by José Alcántara Almánzar / translated by Luis Guzmán Valerio ………………………………………………………………….…………….………………31 “The Guide through Death” and “The Fat Lady” by Guadalupe Dueñas / translated by Josie Hough ………………………………………………………………….…………….………………41 “The Case of the Unfaithful Translator” by José María Merino / translated by Erin Goodman ………………………………………………………………….…………….………………51 Rincón de Traductores/Translators’ Corner 009 (2020) ISSN: 2694-2801 (online) 2694-281X (print) Instituto Cervantes at FAS - Harvard University © Instituto Cervantes at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University Miguel Hernández’ Speech to his Companions in the Ocaña Jail translated by Constance Marina ………………………………………………………………….…………….………………71 “The Guerrilla Fighter” and “May as Well Call it Quits” by Albalucía Ángel Marulanda / translated by Daniel Steele Rodríguez ………………………………………………………………….…………….………………75 “On the Road to Houmt Souk” by Soledad Puértolas / translated by Francisca González Arias ………………………………………………………………….…………….………………81 4 Rincón de Traductores/Translators’ Corner 009 (2020) ISSN: 2694-2801 (online) 2694-281X (print) Instituto Cervantes at FAS - Harvard University © Instituto Cervantes at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University Presentation In September 2019, the Observatory of the Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultures in the USA launched the Rincón de Traductores/Translators’ Corner, with the aim of fulfilling one of the objectives of this 5 Instituto Cervantes research center at Harvard University, which, apart from examining the situation and evolution of the language and cultures from the various Spanish-speaking countries in relation to the multilingual and multicultural US environment, pursues to disseminate the literary and intellectual production originally created in Spanish. Translation becomes particularly relevant for this major aim of the Observatorio –as the center is commonly known at Harvard, for this dissemination can be done not only in the original language of those works but also in English translation. Indeed, turning this production into the main language used in the US will help it reach a wider audience since, in translated form, it will not only be accessible to hispanists or English- speaking readers with a good command of Spanish –i.e. those who can read the original creations from the Spanish-speaking world, but also to those who have very little or no knowledge of this language but might nevertheless be interested in the literature and cultures associated with it. Moreover, given the status of English as today’s lingua franca, the English translations of these Spanish-language originals will also bring these closer to readers with English as a second or foreign language, hopefully awakening an interest in Spanish and Hispanic literature and thought. This is indeed one of the main roles of translation: enabling a culture’s production to reach beyond the borders formed by language differences, which it does in a very powerful way. As André Lefevere put it, “[translation] is potentially the most influential [type of rewriting] because it is able to project the image of an author and/or those works beyond the boundaries of their culture of origin” (1992: 9). Rincón de Traductores/Translators’ Corner 009 (2020) ISSN: 2694-2801 (online) 2694-281X (print) Instituto Cervantes at FAS - Harvard University © Instituto Cervantes at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University Now, the authors who are best appreciated by source-culture audiences and readers are not always those who eventually manage to cross linguistic and cultural boundaries, for the selection of works to be introduced in foreign lands through a translation process often meets cultural, artistic, historical, economic, political, etc. criteria pertaining to the target system. And their reception may also be significantly different at either end, so that those works which become well known in a target culture are not necessarily those which are most highly valued or popular in their country of origin. Intercultural communication is underpinned by the specific power relations and values of each cultural system, as David Katan has analysed in detail (2009, p. 91), and there are some “ ‘hidden’ and ‘unconscious’ factors [...] which determine how a text will be understood” when subjected to translation. The Observatorio’s Rincón de Traductores/Translators’ Corner was launched with the purpose of opening the door of English-speaking contexts to (relatively brief) works from any author, any Hispanic country, any period or genre, which have been originally created, and published, in Spanish, and which a particular translator considers worthy of acquaintance and attention by 6 English-speaking readers. The ‘selection process’ is therefore initiated by the translators themselves, who may belong to the source culture (a Spanish-speaking literary system) or to the receiving end, principally the United States –though not exclusively. This will hopefully favour the dissemination of works and authors which/who, for whatever reason –unconnected with their literary quality or appreciation in their countries of origin, have never been known beyond the Hispanic world. The section has indeed been named ‘Rincón de Traductores/Translators’ corner’ focusing on these experts, who will, by their own initiative, render a work into English and submit their translation to the Observatorio’s consideration for publication, accompanying their proposal with a brief but useful introduction to the original work and author, helping readers contextualize the text. The translator’s bionote also has some space in the publication. We thus pay tribute to (literary) translators, who have played a pivotal role in the construction of cultures, substantially contributing to the mutual enrichment of linguistically diverse countries by helping their literary and intellectual productions break through the barriers that separate them. Peter Bush has expressed it eloquently: “Literary translators are involved at a keen point of cultural convergence because they translate those works which, for whatever reason, are selected for translation and which now exist where otherwise there would be silence” (1998/2001, p. 127). Apart from acknowledging their key role in suggesting works for translation themselves, Bush highlights their contribution to breaking nationalist canons, since “[a]s the creator of the new work in the target culture, the literary translator operates at the frontiers of language and culture, where identity is flux, irreducible to everyday nationalist tags” Rincón de Traductores/Translators’ Corner 009 (2020) ISSN: 2694-2801 (online) 2694-281X (print) Instituto Cervantes at FAS - Harvard University © Instituto Cervantes at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences of Harvard University (1998/2001, p. 128). –which is why Maria Tymoczko’s description of a translator as “an ethical agent of social change” (2003: 181) seems more than adequate. Translators certainly produce change and cooperation through the social and cross-cultural interaction taking place in any process of translation, which is often a two-way journey, particularly in the literary sphere: works get translated and may influence authors in foreign lands, sometimes producing momentous changes in them, by introducing new styles, literary forms, topics, or fresh approaches, which will be absorbed by the new cultures and reshaped into works produced in their native tongues; these new creations will frequently in turn be rendered into the language which had first originated a particular literary pattern, themselves impacting on the works now produced in it. This explains and illustrates why “translated literature has been so influential in shaping the dynamics of discourse, communication and culture” (Lambert, 1998/2001, p. 133), actively participating in the negotiation and reinterpretations that texts are subject to in the various cultures, themselves always “in a constant state of flux” (Katan, 2009, p. 88). This volume initiates a series of special issues which we intend to bring out annually, with a selection 7 of the translations published online throughout the previous academic year. The translations compiled in this first, 2019-2020, volume are a good reflection of the variety of texts, authors, countries, genres and styles, that we would like the Rincón de Traductores/Translators’ Corner to be characterized by, as it includes English versions of texts from Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Spain, by eight different authors –José Alcántara Almánzar, Albalucía Ángel Marulanda, Guadalupe Dueñas, Federico García Lorca, Miguel Hernández, Marina Mayoral, José María Merino and Soledad Puértolas, who represent diverse