Translating for the Theatre

doi:10.1017/9781108616119.022

21 - Translating for the Theatre

from Part V - Translation in Practice: Arts

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 March 2022

Geraldine Brodie

Edited by

Kirsten Malmkjær

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Kirsten Malmkjær: Affiliation:
University of Leicester

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Summary

Chapter 21 looks at how theatre translation has connections with literary and poetry translation but is always focused on a performed text and its users. The readers of translated theatrical texts encompass theatre practitioners engaged in the design and development of performance, and actors who learn and reproduce the text as dialogue and movement. The chapter contrasts direct translation of a text by a specialist translator with the frequent practice of commissioning an expert linguist to make a literal translation to be used by a theatre practitioner to create a text for performance. It considers the role of the translator in the theatrical environment, investigating the extent to which theatrical collaborative practices are reflected in theatre translation. The chapter ends with a discussion of the implications for theatre translation of relevant theories from the wider translation arena.

Keywords

Text for performance practitioners direct translation expert linguist literal translation

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge Handbook of Translation , pp. 423 - 439

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108616119.022 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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