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Tydskrif vir Geesteswetenskappe

versão On-line ISSN 2224-7912
versão impressa ISSN 0041-4751

Resumo

MORGAN, Naòmi. A substitute for Phèdre or the (un)translatability of intertextual references in Jean-Paul Daumas's Le cimetière des éléphants. Tydskr. geesteswet. [online]. 2018, vol.58, n.2, pp.293-309. ISSN 2224-7912.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2224-7912/2018/v58n2a6.

The translation of intertextual references (in this case of a French source text into an Afrikaans target text) in Jean-Paul Daumass'splay Le cimetière des éléphants (The Elephant Graveyard; American translation by Phyllis Zatlin) poses a particular challenge to the Afrikaans translator. None of the references have been translated into Afrikaans and a new translation would thus not be recognizable to the Afrikaans reading and theatre-going public. Daumas uses quotes from the three main genres, poetry, drama and prose, but only the first two are from authentic sources. The quoted lines ofverse are taken from Paul Valéry's well-known poem, Le cimetière marin which echoes the play's cemetery theme. While Zatlin was able to use Cecil Day-Lewis' successful English translation, the Afrikaans translator opted for a quotation from an Ingrid Jonker poem. The seminal intertextual source in the play is Jean Racine's Phèdre, which is quoted three times by the main character and functions as a play within a play. Within a French context, quotations from Phèdre are of course utterly recognizable, not only because it is a prescribed play for students and learners, but because it is still frequently staged. Afrikaans theatre cannot lay claim to any similarly well-known play in a classical register, especially since the 1994 transformation of the various Performing Arts Councils into playhouse management boards put an end to regular exposure to varied repertoires, including classical plays. Although certain Afrikaans alternatives, such as PG du Plessis's Siener in die suburbs, are eminently recognizable, the register does notfit the retired actress in Daumas S play, who has always excelled at aristocratic roles. A creative solution would be to replace audience recognition of the literary reference with their recognition of the actress, whose real name is used in the play instead of the stage name ofthe (fictitious) French actress, Ludivine Putiphar. One of the best-known actresses in South African theatre history is Sandra Prinsloo, who also commissioned the Afrikaans translation of Le cimetière des éléphants. By using her real name as a stage name, the translator is able to glean possible equivalents for Phèdre from her productions in both Afrikaans and English (languages which for the most part are interchangeable to the Afrikaans theatre-goer and the choice of which is left to the future director of the play). Quotations were limited to the classical repertoire of her production list, provided they were thematically linked to Daumas'splay and that there was a natural transition between the quotation and the preceding and following dialogue. After careful consideration, the translator finally took her cue from Zatlin's choice of a Shakespearian equivalent for Phèdre: not Anthony and Cleopatra, as in the case of the American translation (the recognition of which owes much to the 1963 film version, Cleopatra, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton), but Macbeth. Prinsloo played Lady Macbeth in two memorable (English) productions, and it is a well-known still photograph from the Dieter Reible production which inspired the choice of play. As the actress in the play quotes from her iconic play in full costume and matching stage make-up, the image of a dishevelled Prinsloo as Lady Macbeth (reproduced in the article) can only emphasize the transition between boarding-house repartee and the re-enactment of her past glory on stage. As auditory recognition has been replaced with visual recognition, the quotes may be recited in either English or Afrikaans. However, to match Daumas's unilingual source text, the translation is entirely in Afrikaans and features the Eitemal Afrikaans version of Macbeth. Creative solutions enable Afrikaans translators to continue translating foreign plays containing culture-specific intertextual references and, in this case, to pay hommage to one of the doyennes of the Afrikaans stage.

Palavras-chave : practical drama translation; intertextual references; the Untranslatable; play within a play; Jean-Paul Daumas; Phyllis Zatlin; Sandra Prinsloo; Ingrid Jonker; Phèdre; Macbeth; Anthony and Cleopatra; Le cimetière des éléphants.

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