Translating and interpreting

Since 1970, translation studies have broken the dichotomous mold of the "word for word" or "sense for sense" translation, shifting from a linguistics focus to a new approach that investigates the context and confluence of the social/political factors that form the cultural background of a language. In the light of this "cultural turn," this study comparatively investigates the apparent differences between the two versions of the novella "Maldito amor" and "Sweet Diamond Dust" by the critically acclaimed Puerto Rican Rosario Ferre. To read Ferre's two versions taking into account translation theorist Lawrence Venuti's concepts of "foreignizing" or "domestication" of a text, evidences the need of new theoretical formulations to critically situate these rare cases of authors who "write between languages," and (re)create their work in another language.

Stefan George, one of the few literary self-translators, rendered two of his original English and three of his original French poems into German. These self-translations may serve as case studies for the problem of "equivalence" in literary as well as linguistic and cultural terms. Recent translation theories (e.g. Rose, Pym, Fitch) problematize the overlap or the interliminal space between languages, cultures, literary traditions, and texts. Rather than binary-based source-target models, recent theory helps elucidate equivalence in George. Indeed only a self-translation can reveal how the many micro-adjustments made in linguistic and literary succeed in rendering the semantic content of the original and in comparison establish a perfect functional and stylistic correspondence with comparable effects in the two languages. Thus, such expressions as his "own language," or his "own culture," traditionally used by his critics to refer solely to German, are inappropriate to George's oeuvre.

We all use our language as one of our main modes of communication. Stan Klipper, the progatonist of Stan in Prague, found himself in a position where language has failed him, yet with the lack of language, his other senses have also failed him. When Stan was sent to Prague on a vague business trip, he decided to hire a translator to help him close the language gap, which in his case was huge. With his translator, Ihar, and Ihar's girlfriend delha, Stan maneuvers his way through the cramped streets of Prague, to open the lands of the Prague suburbs and into his own confusion.

This thesis emphasizes the visibility of the translator as an agent who promotes cultural exchange. This project includes a translation of Jennifer Egan's short story "Spanish Winter" from her collection Emerald City and Other Stories (1996). It also presents the theoretical frame, the critical analysis, and the pitfalls of the translation. "Spanish Winter" is narrated in the first person by the protagonist, a troubled US American, divorced woman who travels by herself to Spain in the winter. The importance of this text lies in the quest for identity of a female character whose journey symbolizes a search for herself. This postmodern tale, which depicts cultural exchanges between Spaniards and a US American woman and presents a contemporary theme told by a female narrator traveling abroad, is extremely relevant in today's globalized world. It is a valuable text whose translation promotes a fruitful literary exchange between the United States and the Spanish-speaking countries.