Translating Exile in Panait Istrati's "Mes Departs", Samuel Beckett's "Fin De Partie" and Selected Poems by Paul Celan
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Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2001 Translating Exile in Panait Istrati's "Mes Departs", Samuel Beckett's "Fin De Partie" and Selected Poems by Paul Celan. Ina Alice Pfitzner Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Pfitzner, Ina Alice, "Translating Exile in Panait Istrati's "Mes Departs", Samuel Beckett's "Fin De Partie" and Selected Poems by Paul Celan." (2001). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 305. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/305 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 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TRANSLATING EXILE IN PANAfT ISTRATTSMES DEPARTS, SAMUEL BECKETTS FIN DE P A R TIE A m SELECTED POEMS BY PAUL CELAN A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy in The Department of French Studies by Ina Alice Pfitzner Dipiom-Sprachmittler, Humbokft-UnrversitStzu Berlin, 1989 MA., Louisiana State University, 1998 May 2001 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number. 3016568 ___ _____ (f t UMI UMI Microform 3016568 Copyright 2001 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements I am grateful to my major professor and mentor, Dr. Adelaide Russo, for her persistent encouragement, empathy and exaction. She helped along the completion of this dissertation as well as my personal and academic growth. I also wish to thank Andrei Codrescu a id Dr. John Pizerfor years of friendship and support I am thankful to the Department of French Studies at Louisiana State University, in particular Dr. Lucie Brind’Amour, Dr. Gregory Stone, and Ms. Connie Simpson, as well as the Center of French and Francophone Studies, in particular the director Dr. Assia Djebar, for a scholarship and assistance in several projects. I am indebted to Kimberty Svetich-Will for reviewing my translation of PanaTt Istrati’s My Farewells. Others helped me with the linguistic analysis of this text Benoit Auclerc, Alexandru Boldor, Christina Kotzamani, Catalina Popa, Vicky Skoumbi, Sarah Formosa, Romain Couderc. The following scholars shared their knowledge and their reflections on Paul Celan with me: Yasmine Getz, Martine Broda, Jean-Pierre Lefebvre, Jean-Claude Schneider, Michel Deguy, and certainly Jean-Marie Gleize at the £cole Normale Supdrieure in S t Cloud/Fontenay, now Lyon. I am also thankful to Christophe Lamiot for introducing me to contemporary French poetry. Allison Roark proofread this dissertation for me, Carta Criner, Ph.D., was available with advice at all times. This dissertation was met with enthusiasm and curiosity by many friends in Baton Rouge. Berlin and Paris. I also thank my father, who instilled exile in me, and my mother, whose interest in French literature got me started. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS....................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT........................................................................................................... v 1. INTRODUCTION................................................................................................ 1 Prologue ............................................................................................................... 1 Exposition ..............................................................................................................1 Theory ...................................................................................................................3 Thesis ................................................................................................................... 5 Exegesis ................................................................................................................ 6 Technicalities ......................................................................................................... 9 Notes .................................................................................................................. 10 2. TRANSLATION......................................................................... i ...................... 11 A European Thing ................................................................................................. t t Reality Check ...................................................................................................... 16 The Politics of Translation ..................................................................................... 17 Writing as Translation ........................................................................................... 22 Translation as Poetry ............................................................................................26 Futility of Translation? .......................................................................................... 31 Translation as Criticism ........................................................................................ 39 Notes .................................................................................................................. .42 3. EXILE...............................................................................................................44 Defining Exile ...................................................................................................... .44 Exile in France ..................................................................................................... 46 Exile—Voluntary or Involuntary? ........................................................................... 49 Forms of Exile ...................................................................................................... 51 Exile of the Writer. ................................................................................................ 58 Jewish Exile ......................................................................................................... 59 Exile in Postmemory ............................................................................................ .61 Leaving Childhood, Leaving Home ........................................................................ 63 Bale in Language ................................................................................................ 65 'Exile as Boon’ ..................................................................................................... .69 Translation and Exile .................. 71 Home? .................................................................................................................74 Notes .................................................................................................................. 76 4. PANAtT ISTRATI: MES DEPARTS................................................................... .78 The Vagabond-Wiriter. .......................................................................................... 79 Exile .................................................................................................................... 82 Translation ..........................................................................................................