Passive (Re)translations and identity struggles in the poetry of Leonard Cohen. A Comparison of three translations of book of Longing (2006)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5007/2175-7968.2019v39n1p145Abstract
Over the course of less than a decade, Leonard Cohen’s Book of Longing (2006), was translated into French three different times. The poetry collection of Cohen was first translated in Québec (Livre du constant désir, 2007) and then in France (Le livre du désir, 2008). In addition, seven poems published in Book of Longing previously appeared as songs on the studio album Ten New Songs (2001). The French release of this album was accompanied by a promotional booklet, in which French translations (made by Graeme Allwright) are printed. In this article, the question is raised whether these texts can be labeled as ‘retranslations’ or not. The three translations will first be compared in order to determine to what extent several power mechanisms have influenced the production of these translations, namely the dynamics between centre and periphery (Paris and Québec) and between highbrow-lowbrow cultural products (literature and music). These external factors will then be compared to a number of internal factors, i.e. a specific interpretation of Cohen’s poetry that may have influenced the adopted translation strategies of the three texts under consideration.
References
Adria, Marco. “Aurora Online with Leonard Cohen.” Aurora Online, 1990, http://aurora.icaap.org/index.php/aurora/article/view/36/47. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.
Allwright, Graeme. Graeme Allwright chante Leonard Cohen, Mercury, 1973.
______. “Des images mystérieuses – interview by Jacques Vassal”. Paroles et Musique, 33, 1983, p. 26.
Alvstad, Cecilia. Assis Rosa, Alexandra. “Voice in retranslation. An overview and some trends.” Target, vol. 27, no. 1, 2015, pp.3-24
Berman, Antoine. « Translation and the trials of the foreign » The Translation Studies Reader (third edition), edited by Lawrence Venuti, Routledge, 2000, pp.240-253.
______. “La Retraduction comme espace de traduction.” Palimpsestes, no. 4, 1990, pp. 1-7.
Brierre, Dominique, translator. Vassal, Jacques, translator. Le livre du désir. By Leonard Cohen, Le Cherche Midi, 2008.
Brisset, Annie. « Retraduire ou le corps changeant de la connaissance. Sur l’historicité de la traduction. » Palimpsestes, no. 15, 2004, pp. 39-67.
______. « The search for a native language: translation and cultural identity. » The Translation Studies Reader (third edition), edited by Lawrence Venuti, Routledge, 2000, pp. 281-309.
Burger, Jeff. Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen: Interviews and Encounters. Chicago Review Press, 2014.
Casanova, Pascale. «Consécration et accumulation de capital littéraire. La traduction comme échange inégal.» Actes de la Recherche en Sciences Sociales, no. 144, 2002, pp. 7-20.
Cohen, Leonard. Book of Longing. McClelland and Stewart, 2006.
Denis, Benoit. Klinkenberg, Jean-Marie. La littérature belge. Précis d’histoire sociale. Espace Nord, 2005.
Gambier, Yves. «La retraduction, retour et détour.» Meta, vol. 39, no. 3, pp.413-417.
Garneau, Michel, translator. Etrange musique étrangère. By Leonard Cohen, L’Hexagone, 2000.
______, translator. Livre du constant désir. By Leonard Cohen, L’Hexagone, 2007.
______. Poèmes du traducteur. L’Hexagone, 2008.
______. «Les regards.» Revue de la Société historique de Montréal, n°62, 2011, p. 7.
Glass, Philip. Book of Longing. A Song Cycle Based on the Poetry and Images of Leonard Cohen, Orange Mountain Music, 2007.
Guiloineau, Jean, translator. Musique d’ailleurs. By Leonard Cohen, Christian Bourgois, 1994.
Koskinen, Kaisa. Paloposki, Outi. “Retranslation.” Handbook of Translation Studies, Volume 1, edited by Yves Gambier & Luc van Doorslaer, John Benjamins, 2010, pp. 294-298.
Monette, Pierre. “Un poète et son traducteur, le traducteur et ses poèmes.” Entre les lignes: le plaisir de lire au Québec, vol. 5, n°2, 2009, p. 32
Montpetit, Caroline. «Leonard Cohen ou la constant quête de beauté», Le Devoir (May 5, 2007), http://www.ledevoir.com/culture/livres/142205/leonard-cohenou-la-constante-quete-de-beaute
Mus, Francis. “‘There’s nothing to follow, there’s nowhere to go’. Errance et arrêt dans l’oeuvre de Leonard Cohen.” Les révolutions de Leonard Cohen, edited by Chantal Ringuet, Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2016, pp. 53-71.
______. “Leonard Cohen in French Culture: a Song of Love and Hate. A Comparison between Musical and Literary Translation”, submitted, JosTRans, n°29, 2018, http://www.jostrans.org/issue29/art_mus.php
Pym, Anthony. Method in Translation History. St. Jerome, 2008.
Simon, S. Translating Montreal. Episodes in the life of a Divided City, 2006, McGill Queen’s University Press.
Susam-Saraeva, Sebnem. «Translation and Music. Changing Perspectives, Frameworks and Significance. » The Translator, vol. 14, no. 2, 2008, pp. 187-200.
Tanasescu, Raluca. Alberti, Louis. «Leonard Cohen: un auteur majeur et ses traducteurs ‘en mode mineur’.» Les révolutions de Leonard Cohen, edited by Chantal Ringuet, 2016, Presses de l’Université du Québec, pp. 229-252.
Vassal, Jacques. «Histoires de la rue.» Rock et Folk, n° 58, 1971, pp. 74-76.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright Notice
Authors hold the copyright and grant the journal the right for their articles' first publication, being their works simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY), which allows the sharing of such works with its authorship acknowledged and its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are allowed to enter into separate additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or as a book chapter, with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal).
