CTIS Seminar: Shared Texts - The Role of Literal Theatre Translations in the Performance Process
| Dates: | 29 November 2018 |
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| Times: | 14:00 - 15:30 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Arts, Languages and Cultures |
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| Who is it for: | University staff, Adults, Alumni, Current University students, General public |
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| Speaker: | Geraldine Brody |
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‘Literal translation’ is a problematic term that tends to be associated with word-for-word translation and regarded as a lower level of translation activity. In English-speaking theatre, however, ‘literal translation’ is the term designated by the theatre industry to denote translations commissioned to provide English-language source texts from which performance texts can be generated. Such theatrical literal translations are targeted forms of translation: viable texts in their own right that deserve greater visibility, deeper understanding of their role in the performance process and fuller acknowledgement of the expertise of their translators.
In order to investigate this phenomenon, my latest research project examines the real-time creation of literal translations for four contemporary Dutch plays. This talk discusses some of the issues that have arisen in commissioning translations for eventual performance, including text selection, translator selection, stakeholder interests, intellectual property and moral ownership. I will reflect on how the detailed study of literal theatre translation sheds light on the practical and theoretical role of literal translation in translation studies.
Speaker
Geraldine Brody
Organisation: UCL
Biography: Dr Geraldine Brodie is Associate Professor in Translation Theory and Theatre Translation and Interim Director of the Centre for Translation Studies at University College London. Her research centres on theatre translation practices in contemporary London. Recent publications include The Translator on Stage (Bloomsbury, 2018), Adapting Translation for the Stage, co-edited with Emma Cole (Routledge, 2017) and the special issue, ‘Martin Crimp: playwright, translator, translated’, of the Journal of Adaptation in Film & Performance (2016:1), co-edited with Marie Nadia Karsky. Geraldine Brodie is a panel Associate of ARTIS (Advancing Research in Translation and Interpreting Studies), a member of the Eurodram Committee and an editorial advisor for UCL Press.
Travel and Contact Information
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Theatre D
Simon Building
Manchester
