Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert “With a focus on the nature and the cultural significance of literary translation, this fascinating collection of essays incisively analyzes the creation, circulation and reception of translated texts. Contributions from both practitioners and scholars here offer a range of perspectives and case studies that explore how writing and translation intersect, how and why texts are disseminated across linguistic and other borders, and what forms of gate-keeping control access to the marketplace. Like translation itself, this volume helpfully opens up new vistas on texts and literary systems.” — Valerie Henitiuk, director, British Centre for Literary Translation . “This work is at the cutting edge of literary translation research. Two aspects are particularly appealing. One is hearing the translator’s reflexive voice speaking about his/her creative processes. The other is the way that it explores ‘world literature’ and international literary flows, via case studies that draw fascinating conclusions beyond their time, text and place.” — Francis R. Jones, Newcastle University, UK . Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert This page intentionally left blank Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert Perspectives on Literature and Translation This volume explores the relationship between literature and translation from three perspectives: the creative dimensions of the translation process; the way texts circulate between languages; and the way texts are received in translation by new audiences. The distinctiveness of the volume lies in the fact that it considers these fundamental aspects of literary translation together and in terms of their interconnections. Contributors examine a wide variety of texts, including world classics, poetry, genre fiction, trans- national literature, and life writing from around the world. Both theoretical and empirical issues are covered, with some contributors approaching the topic as practitioners of literary translation, and others writing from within the academy. Brian Nelson is professor emeritus of French Studies and Translation Studies at Monash University, Melbourne, and a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He is well-known for his critical studies and translations of the novels of Emile Zola. Brigid Maher is lecturer in Italian Studies at La Trobe University. She is the author of Recreation and Style: Translating Humorous Literature in Italian and English (Benjamins) and coeditor of Words, Images and Performances in Translation (Continuum) and The AALITRA Review. She has translated novels by Milena Agus and Nicola Lagioia. Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert Routledge Advances in Translation Studies 1 Applying Luhmann to 4 Translation Theory and Translation Studies Development Studies Translation in Society A Complexity Theory Approach Sergey Tyulenev Kobus Marais 2 Interpreting Justice 5 Perspectives on Literature and Ethics, Politics and Language Translation Moira Inghilleri Creation, Circulation, Reception Edited by Brian Nelson and 3 Translation and Web Searching Brigid Maher Vanessa Enríquez Raído Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert Perspectives on Literature and Translation Creation, Circulation, Reception Edited by Brian Nelson and Brigid Maher Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert First published 2013 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2013 Taylor & Francis The right of the editors to be identified as the author of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Perspectives on literature and translation : creation, circulation, reception / edited by Brian Nelson, Brigid Maher. pages cm. — (Routledge Advances in Translation Studies ; 5) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Translating and interpreting. 2. Literature—Translations—History and criticism. I. Nelson, Brian, 1946– editor of compilation. II. Maher, Brigid (Brigid Catherine Anne) editor of compilation. PN241.P435 2013 418′.04—dc23 2013018385 ISBN: 978-0-415-70601-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-88754-8 (ebk) Typeset in Sabon by Apex CoVantage, LLC Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert Contents List of Figures and Tables ix Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 BRIAN NELSON AND BRIGID MAHER PART I Creation: Literature and Translation in the Looking Glass 1 The Art of Hearing the Voice 13 JULIE ROSE 2 Memory, War and Translation: Mercè Rodoreda’s In Diamond Square 31 PETER BUSH 3 Szymek from the Village and Joe from Missouri: Problems of Voice in Translating Wiesław Mys´liwski’s Stone upon Stone 47 BILL JOHNSTON 4 Understanding through Translation: Rilke’s New Poems 56 LUKE FISCHER 5 Cesare De Marchi and the Author-Translator Dilemma 73 LUIGI GUSSAGO PART II Circulation: Texts and Their Transmission 6 Inculturation as Elephant: On Translation and the Spread of Literary Modernity 87 ANTHONY PYM Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert viii Contents 7 Rainer Maria Rilke in Lucian Blaga’s Translations from English 105 SEAN COTTER 8 Rabindranath Tagore and “World Literature” 117 MRIDULA NATH CHAKRABORTY 9 Buzzati’s French Connection: Translation as a Catalyst in a Literary Career 134 FELIX SIDDELL 10 A Crook’s Tour: Translation, Pseudotranslation and Foreignness in Anglo-Italian Crime Fiction 145 BRIGID MAHER PART III Reception: Texts and Their Readers 11 Of Migrants and Working Men: How Pietro di Donato’s Christ in Concrete Travelled between the US and Italy through Translation 161 LOREDANA POLEZZI 12 Terra Australis Incognita Even Now? The Reception of Contemporary Australian Literature in Italian Translation 178 RITA WILSON 13 Prizing Translation: Book Awards and Literary Translation 195 SALLY-ANN SPENCER 14 Footnotes sans Frontières : Translation and Textual Scholarship 210 ESTHER ALLEN Contributors 221 Index 225 Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert Figures and Tables FIGURES 6.1 Translations of books and plays from Spanish and Portuguese to English, by decade 90 13.1 Sales of winning titles (2005–2012) immediately before and two months after the award of the prize 200 13.2 Foreign rights sales by language for Buchpreis-winning titles 2005–2012 203 TABLES 6.1 Mean translation delays by decade 90 13.1 Performance of winning titles (2005–2012) in the Spiegel charts 201 13.2 Breakdown of titles by language of origin in the annual Spiegel bestseller lists 202 Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert This page intentionally left blank Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert Acknowledgements We would like to thank all those colleagues who assisted in the peer review process by providing valuable feedback on the contributions to this collection. We are grateful to the following publishers for permission to reprint some lines from translations of Rainer Maria Rilke in chapter 4 : Excerpt from “Buddha in Glory” from New Poems / Neue Gedichte by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Stephen Cohn. Translation copyright © 1992. Reprinted by permission of Carcanet Press. Excerpt from “The Grown-up” from New Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, a bilingual edition translated by Edward Snow. Translation copyright © 1984. Reprinted by permission of North Point Press, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, LLC. Excerpt from “The Panther” from Selected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke: A Translation from the German and Commentary by Robert Bly. Copyright © 1981 by Robert Bly. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. Excerpts from “The Panther” and “The Blind Man” from Rainer Maria Rilke, Selected Works, Volume 2: Poetry, edition translated by J. B. Leishman. Translation copyright © 1960. Reprinted by permission of Random House UK Ltd. and the J. B. Leishman Estate. We are also grateful to the following publisher for permission to reprint some lines by Roberto Tejada in chapter 14 : Excerpt from “When I stop to consider my calling” from Exposition Park © 2010 by Roberto Tejada. Reprinted with permission of Wesleyan University Press. Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert This page intentionally left blank Facebook : La culture ne s'hérite pas elle se conquiert Introduction Brian Nelson and Brigid Maher The essays in this volume explore the topic of literature and translation from three broad perspectives: the creativity involved in the act of translation, the circulation and transmission of texts across languages and the reception of texts in translation by new audiences in new contexts. Of course, cre- ation, circulation and reception are by no means mutually exclusive aspects of translation, and the various essays deal in one way or another with