Traduction, rythme, musique - Music, rhythm translation
Rhythm, sound and beat inform poetry and opera libretti but arguably also drama and prose. Henri Meschonnic even contends that « rhythm », as distinct from metre, is the most essential aspect of a literary text that a translation should seek to convey. According to Meschonnic, rhythm is equated with literary form itself, inasmuch as it endows language with the poetic and musical qualities characteristic of literary discourse. What role, then, do rhythm, sound patterns and musicality play in individual translation practices ? What are the specific constraints but also what new possibilities arise in translating across languages, but also literary-musical traditions, and cultural contexts? Literary scholars and translators from English, German, French, Italian, Latin, Hindi, Russian and Chinese will try and answer this complex question and present their own understanding of rhythm in translation.
This conference will bring together scholars, translators, writers, actors, singers and musicians, including the Indian writer Geetanjali Shree, whose novel An Empty Place is forthcoming in French (trans. Nicola Pozza, Une place vide, Infolio 2016), and André Markowicz, literary translator, poet and thinker.
The multilingual bass-baritone singer and actor Francesco Biamonte will open the colloquium with a lecture/performance on translating opera libretti and he will sing airs in several languages from Gulliver ou l'Ombre de l'Homme-montagne accompanied by the soprano Lisa Tatin and the accordion player Julien Paillard.
This opening event will take place at the Cercle littéraire de Lausanne (Place St.-François 7, 1003 Lausanne), le 28 avril à 18h. Places are limited and registration required. Please contact admin@cerclelitteraire.ch or phone 021 312 85 02.