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Found in Translation

Greek Drama in English

J Michael Walton author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:12th Mar '09

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Found in Translation cover

This 2006 book addresses the wider issues of transferring any piece of theatre from a source into a target language.

This 2006 book addresses the issue of transferring any piece of theatre from a source into a target language. The history of translating classical tragedy and comedy demonstrates how through the ages translators have, wittingly or unwittingly, appropriated Greek plays and made them reflect socio-political concerns of their own era.In considering the practice and theory of translating Classical Greek plays into English from a theatrical perspective, Found in Translation, first published in 2006, also addresses the wider issues of transferring any piece of theatre from a source into a target language. The history of translating classical tragedy and comedy, here fully investigated, demonstrates how through the ages translators have, wittingly or unwittingly, appropriated Greek plays and made them reflect socio-political concerns of their own era. Chapters are devoted to topics including verse and prose, mask and non-verbal language, stage directions and subtext and translating the comic. Among the plays discussed as 'case studies' are Aeschylus' Agamemnon, Sophocles' Oedipus Tyrannus and Euripides' Medea and Alcestis. The book concludes with a consideration of the boundaries between 'translation' and 'adaptation', followed by an appendix of every translation of Greek tragedy and comedy into English from the 1550s to the present day.

"This work will be useful for anyone interested in drama, classics, theater history, or translation theory. Highly recommended." - Choice
"Walton's approach is to bring gales of fresh air into the most abstruse areas...[he] has been a pioneer in ensuring that discussions of drama translation take account of the nature of performance, not just the nature of language...The result is by any standards a mighty achievement of scholarship. -Lorna Hardwick, Arion
"Walton moved effortlessly over a vast and complex field. The book is direct and engaging in its approach and is a thoroughly 'good read' which will appeal widely outside the classical and theater studies...essential reading in the field for some years to come. -Classical Review
"The well-known scholar and translator, J. Michael Walton, has produced an engaging, comprehensive, and rewarding journey through the quagmire of English translation of ancient Greek drama...An invaluable resource as well as fascinating and entertaining reading." -Katherine B. Free, Text and Presentation, 2007; The Comparative Drama Conference Series, 4
"[Walton's] book is packed with useful, accurate, and sometimes surprising information, including an extraordinarily conscientious appendix listing ‘All Greek Plays in English Translation’. The main body of the work is a series of studies of exemplary difficulties – the language of the Agamemnon, the non-verbal ‘language’ of gesture and action, the terms turannos and daimon in Oedipus Tyrannus, the rendition of deceit and duplicity, the difference in cultural values affecting the representation of women...the book is full of fine details, good anecdotes, and telling quotations." -Adrian Poole, Trinity College, Cambridge, Translation and Literature

ISBN: 9780521102896

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 19mm

Weight: 500g

332 pages