{"id":2292,"date":"2012-09-12T10:00:42","date_gmt":"2012-09-12T08:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elanguage.net\/blogs\/booknotices\/?p=2292"},"modified":"2012-09-05T12:10:36","modified_gmt":"2012-09-05T10:10:36","slug":"poetry-translating-as-expert-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/?p=2292","title":{"rendered":"Poetry translating as expert action"},"content":{"rendered":"
Poetry translating as expert action<\/strong>: Processes, priorities and networks. By Francis R. Jones<\/strong>. (Benjamins translation library 93.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2011. Pp. xvi, 227. ISBN 9789027286819<\/a>\u00a0$135 (Hb).<\/div>\n

Reviewed by Dennis Ryan<\/strong>, University Writing and Language Consultants<\/em><\/p>\n

In this book, Francis R. Jones begins by asking the commonly asked question, \u2018What does a poetry translator need to know to translate a poem written in one language into another?\u2019 The answer is \u2018special expertise\u2019 (1), referring to the book\u2019s title and thesis. J expands upon this phrase throughout seven chapters that look at poetry translation as the work of project teams and active networking, of a complex matrix of local-to-global community involvement and political action that results in intercultural interfaces correlated to specific translation settings and situations, to writing and poetry-translation skills, and to the cultural sensitivity of the translator.<\/p>\n

During the course of the study, J interviews a number of anonymous translators and comments incisively upon his own translation practice from Serbo-Croatian\/Bosnian into English, including his fully bilingual, published translation of \u2018the masterwork of Bosnian twentieth-century poetry\u2019, (19) the politically iconic Kameni spavac<\/em> \u2018Stone Sleeper\u2019. Composed by Bosnian poet Mak Dizdar, the work is a three-way dialogue that echoes the presence of Bosnian stecci\u2014<\/em>carved medieval tombstones that contain godlike figures and \u2018enigmatic symbols\u2019 (18)\u2014when a dead religious heretic from beneath a stecak<\/em> \u2018taunts…heretic-hunters [of the state church] that they cannot destroy spiritual strength by physical violence\u2019 (21).<\/p>\n

Based on his poetry translation experiences, and those of other translators, J argues quite convincingly that neither poetry translation nor poetry as a genre should be marginalized. Rather, they should be extensively researched by translation scholars. He states that \u2018poetry may have a special contribution to make, which more than compensates for its low translated word-count per annum compared to European Union legislation\u2019 (9). By way of fellow translator Maria Tymoczko, J reasons that \u2018literary translation [particularly poetry translation] gives better evidence than non-literary translation about interfaces between cultures because it happens less \u201csporadically\u201d and \u201clocally\u201d, and shows \u201cgreater cultural complexity and \u2026 involvement\u201d \u2026 richer material for analysing intercultural processes\u2019 (9). Because of this rich complexity, literary translation can be foundational in training translators in many areas, from literature to advertising to journalism. His point is well taken.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most importantly, translation enables \u2018a writer of one language to communicate with readers of another\u2019 (3) so that they may better understand and learn from one another both on the cultural and sub-cultural levels. J cites the web journal Spirit of Bosnia<\/em> \u2018as belonging to an imagined sub-community defined by its belief in Bosnia\u2019s cultural unity\u2019 (194). Finally, as J emphasizes, poetry translators bring their personal histories to the act of translating, yet they also merge their identities biculturally, \u2018see themselves as using their poetry-translating skills to perform the role of \u201cambassador\u201d or of a \u201cbridge\u201d between their two areas of allegiance\u2014the source and receptor culture\/country\u2019 (196). This is only as it should be, as poetry\u2014including its translation\u2014is a powerful force for change.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>This book <\/em>is an expert, seasoned analysis of the art of poetry translation, thoroughly researched, and is highly recommended.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Poetry translating as expert action: Processes, priorities and networks. By Francis R. Jones. (Benjamins translation library 93.) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2011. Pp. xvi, 227. ISBN 9789027286819\u00a0$135 (Hb). Reviewed by Dennis Ryan, University Writing and Language Consultants In this book, Francis R. Jones begins by asking the commonly asked question, \u2018What does a poetry translator need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2292"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2294,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2292\/revisions\/2294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/journals.linguisticsociety.org\/booknotices\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}