#thinking about anne's wordplay in translation. the way she toys with the english language in order to get across the emotion

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

even just the translator's introduction is a fascinating cross-section of storytelling process in translation, as George Herbert Palmer says right off, "In putting forth this ancient masterpiece in an English dress, I wish to assert for my rendering the least possible originality." which is so wildly different from Anne Carson, whose entire translation is adaptive, rendering it as the stage director would — but then Palmer also states that "The translator of the Antigone is the manager of a dramatic action." so perhaps the two translative mindsets, separated by a hundred and thirteen years, aren't as diametrically opposite as their initial intentions may make it seem. Palmer defends his approach with the explanation, "The translator who will render as much as is permitted to ordinary powers is wise in deciding which of the two elements he will subordinate and which put uppermost. Shall he fix his reader's mind on the sweep of the tragedy, or on its wealthy, wayward, and subtle verbalities?" and "Dear Antigone," writes Carson, "I take it as the task of the translator to forbid that you should ever lose your screams." the two are more the same than they are opposed, much as it may not at first seem true. Palmer chooses tragedy over language, and Carson chooses the screams.

#thinking about anne's wordplay in translation. the way she toys with the english language in order to get across the emotion #and the inherent adaptation of that. #Lu rambles #compare case histories #antigone