Towards a Rhetoric of Translation for the Postdramatic Text

Madeleine L Campbell

doi:10.13008/2151-2957.1234

Poroi May 2017 Open Access

Towards a Rhetoric of Translation for the Postdramatic Text

Madeleine L Campbell University of Edinburgh

Abstract

For the literary translator, the question arises as to how she might approach the delicate task of migrating texts that resort largely to “a purely intensive usage of language,” while acknowledging that such texts share a mode of expression that transcends historical or critical periodization. If one is to focus on fidelity or equivalence, the aim should not be the production of a text that translates some underlying meaning or sense where signification and representation are fixed. Rather, the aim should be the meticulous rendering of its surface expression so that the text’s performative capacity can be realized anew in the target language and culture. The focus on what “might be” in language invites a parallel with Hans-Thies Lehmann’s postdramatic genre in theatre and a rhetoric of translation that reflects the aporia of the source expression, in stark contrast to the centrality of the logos to traditional Western rhetoric. While ultimately unattainable, an approach to text as a Deleuzean “map” would seem an appropriate means for the translator to remain true the “intentio” of postdramatic texts.

Journal: Poroi
Published: 2017-05-31
DOI: 10.13008/2151-2957.1234
CompPile: Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access: OA PDF Gold
Topics: rhetorical criticism genre theory argument
Export: BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

No articles in this index cite this work.

References (0)

No references on file for this article.

CrossRef global citation count: 1 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Towards a Rhetoric of Translation for the Postdramatic Text

Abstract

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (0)

References (0)

Related Articles