Conference "Corresponding with Beckett The Epistolary in Literary Research"

Self-translation was the topic of one talk given at the conference "Corresponding with Beckett. The Epistolary in Literary Research" which took place in London, 1-2 June 2018.

Ioanna Kostopoulou (Humboldt University of Berlin) “Translation, Self-Translation and Emerging Poetics: Samuel Beckett’s Correspondence in French (1941-56)” 

Abstract: In the immediate post-war years, Beckett’s writing is shaped by his use of French. What is known as the chosen language for his literary work is also unsurprisingly the language of the majority of his correspondence in the period 1941-56. This particular proficiency in French can be seen as a result of increasing confidence and everyday contact with “standard” French; it relies also on a deeper connection with other (French-speaking) writers and thinkers, made possible by epistolary-based friendship and trust. On the other hand, moments of “invented” French and the development of different epistolary styles hint at a process of translation, self-translation and the emerging of poetics in the letters and literary works—such as the “Trilogy”—alike. Bearing Beckett’s words to Simone de Beauvoir in mind—“You are giving me the chance to speak only to retract it before the words have had time to mean anything” (25 September 1946; LSB 2, 42)—the letters seem to reveal poetological decisions on when to start or end a text as well as conditions for speech and its (im)possibilities of meaning production. The correspondence with art critic Georges Duthuit reveals Beckett’s thoughts on translation and documents the struggle with the “burden”, but also the necessity of selftranslation into English. At the same time, Beckett’s encounter with Henri Michaux’s prose poetry raises the question of translation as influence, corresponding in a metaphorical sense and Übertragung crucial for Beckett’s (literary) writing in the years after Transition, Forty-Eight, No. 4. This paper aims to locate, in the exchange of concepts, (un)words and views on art, a possible correspondence with Beckett’s translation practice of around 1948 and the conditions under which notions of speech, language and silence flow into novels such as L’Innommable, or in Textes pour rien.

Source: https://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/events/conferences/corresponding-beckett

CfP: International Conference on Samuel Beckett – Literature and Translation (Cáceres, Spain; 12-13 April 2018)

For the International Conference “Samuel Beckett: Literature and Translation”, interdisciplinary proposals, either in Spanish, French or English, on the following topics (but not exclusively) are welcome:

• Translations of Samuel Beckett’s works into Spanish and other peninsular languages: An analysis of particular cases and the state of the arts
• Samuel Beckett and bilingualism in his works
• Beckett and self-translation into English and French
• Samuel Beckett’s reception in Spain
• Censorship of Samuel Beckett’s works in Spain
• Critical trends in the interpretation of Samuel Beckett’s works

Proposals should be sent by e-mail to the following address: samuel_beckett@unex.es and should include:

• title of the paper
• participant’s name, institutional affiliation and e-mail address
• 200-300-word abstract

Deadline for submission: 30 September 2017
For more information, please click here.

« Regards croisés autour de l’autotraduction », PAOLA PUCCINI (éd.)

New publication on self-translation: 

Issue n°6 of Interfrancophonie. Revue des littératures et cultures d'expression française dedicated entirely to self-translation. Edited by Paola Puccini. Title: Regards croisés autour de l’autotraduction.

All articles are available online as pdf files. Open Access.

Content:
Paola Puccini: Avant-propos. Pour une cartographie de l’autotraduction

Rainier Grutman: Francophonie et autotraduction

Patricia Godbout: Marius Barbeau et l’autotraduction. Le cas du Rêve de Kamalmouk

Louise Ladouceur: L’auto-traduction selon Marc Prescott. Entre la fidélité à soi et la cohérence de l’œuvre dans l’autre langue

Paola Puccini: L’autotraduction comme malheureuse nécessité. Le cas de La Maculée / sTain de Madeleine Blais-Dahlem

Valeria Sperti: Vassilis Alexakis et Nancy Huston au miroir de l’autotraduction

Licia Canton: Se traduire au quotidien

Gianna Patriarca: La langue à l’intérieur de mes langues

Chiara Lusetti: Junun de Jalila Baccar. Le personnage de Nun et l’expression du Moi entre arabe et français

Fabio Regattin: Quand les préfixes se cumulent. La « pseudo-auto-traduction »

Martina Della Casa: L’esthétique d’un corpus bilingue : « en moi il y a toujours eu deux pitres ». Écriture et auto-traduction chez Beckett

Gisela Bergonzoni: « Company / Compagnie » de Samuel Beckett: face à un miroir déformant

Vassilis Alexakis: Propos échangés avec Valeria Sperti. 'C’est un peu l’histoire qui a décidé de moi'

You can find abstracts for all articles on the website of the journal.

Please click here.

RMMLA Annual Convention

Self-translation will be a topic at the RMMLA Annual Convention, taking place in Vancouver, Washington, USA, 10-12.10.2013.

Otilia G. Baraboi: Cioran and Beckett: Cultural Performativity and Poetics of Self-Translation.

To see the full program, please click here.

Lecture on Beckett's Mercier et Camier

Chiara Montini will give a lecture on Beckett's self-translation in the case of "Mercier et Camier" on Friday, May 11, 2012 in Paris.

Title: « Ecriture en langue étrangère, autotraduction et traduction. Genèse et réception d'un texte bilingue. Le cas de "Mercier et Camier" de Samuel Beckett »
Place: 59/61 rue POUCHET 75017 Paris, 3ème étage. Salle 311
Date: Friday, May 11, 2012

Source: http://www.item.ens.fr/index.php?id=578079
 

Federman and Beckett...

both self-translators and friends. In his wonderful memorial essay samuel beckett: the gift of words, written shortly after Beckett's death, Raymond Federman shares his memories and gives us insight into their friendship and Becketts struggle with his self-translations. Please read the essay here..

New study of Molloy

As already stated, self-translation is an issue researchers on Beckett are more and more aware of. In her new study of Molloy: Modalités po(ï)étiques de configuration textuelle: le cas de Molloy de Samuel Beckett, Carla Taban dedicates the fourth chapter to the issue of self-translation:
Chapitre 4. Molloy/Molloy : (auto-)traduction et po(ï)éticité intra-inter-textuelle

For more information on the book, visit the presentation by Rodopi.

For furter reading:
Taban, Carla (2009): Modalités po(ï)étiques de configuration textuelle: le cas de Molloy de Samuel Beckett. Amsterdam/New York, 360 pp. Pb: 978-90-420-2587-5

Samuel Beckett, of course

The most well known self-translator is of course Samuel Beckett. He wrote his plays and prose in English or French and translated almost every work in the other language. Often he is considered to be the only self-translator who has done self-translation to such an extent, but although it is truly not common amongst self-translators to translate every single work, he is not the only one. Self-translation is also a characteristic of the oeuvre of André Brink or Nancy Huston, to name just a few. As Beckett's oeuvre is availabe in two languages, critics of consider only the work in one language, considering this version to be the original no matter in which direction the translation has occured. But as the translation can also be considered as a comment on the earlier version, critics who will take into account both versions of the work, will gain a deeper understanding.
Sometimes Beckett worked with professional translators but most of the time he translated his works alone. He also participated in the translations of his works into German. Most of the research in the field of self-translation has been done on Samuel Beckett, so the further references are only a minor selection.

Interesting research on Samuel Beckett as a self-translator for further reading:
- Friedman, Allen Warren et.al. (eds.) (1987): Beckett Translating/Translating Beckett. University Park/London: The Pennsylvania State.
- Fitch, Brian (1988) : Beckett and Babel: An Investigation into the Status of the Bilingual Work. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
- Scheiner, Corinne (1999): Writing at the Crossroads: Samuel Beckett and the Case of the Bilingual, Self-Translating Author. In: Marius Buning and Ton Hoenselaars (eds.): English Literature and the “Other” Languages. Atlanta and Amsterdam: Rodopi Press, pp. 175-184.
- Scheiner, Corinne (2000): Bilingualism and biculturalism in self-translation: Samuel Beckett and Vladimir Nabokov as doubled Novelists. Ph.D. Dissertation, The University of Chicago.
- Oustinoff, Michaël (2001): Bilinguisme d'écriture et auto-traduction: Julien Green, Samuel Beckett, Vladimir Nabokov. Paris: L'Harmattan.