Tuesday, January 07, 2020
Translating the Bard
HowlRound Theatre Commons: Lue Morgan Douthit, longtime director of literary development at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF), commissioned a translation of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens into contemporary modern English in the fall of 2015, beginning OSF’s Play On! project. With the Bard still continuously the most-produced playwright in America, one purpose of the project was to ask why so many companies produce Shakespeare year after year after year.
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I've always been curious about the process of translating Shakespeare, whether into modern languages or into modern English text. Part of what I find so beautiful about Shakespeare's plays are his poetic use of language. The studying and deciphering of metaphors is what makes the words so powerful to me. If this is simplified, or changed, how are we sure that the authenticity of the text is being maintained? I suppose you could make that argument about any translated work, but it is epecially relevant with poetry. I recently began reading a book of poems that has the original Portugese text side by side with the English translation. I often pass by the left side, but sometimes I look up some word choices to see how direct translations are not always maintained when a certain feeling must be conveyed. It serves as a constant reminder that the words differ. Translations can however serve as a learning tool into Shakespeare's work, or as the article calls it, "a gateway drug." For example, No Fear Shakespeare is well titled because it allows students to ease into a play that may otherwise scare them off. If translations are what make Shakeapeare's works more approachable, they are valuable and should continue on.
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