Translating for Singing: The theory, art, and craft of translating lyrics

Description

Translating for Singing discusses the art and craft of translating singable lyrics, a topic of interest in a wide range of fields, including translation, music, creative writing, cultural studies, performance studies, and semiotics. Previously, such translation has most often been discussed by music critics, many of whom had neither training nor experience in this area. Written by two internationally known translators, the book focusses mainly on practical techniques for creating translations meant to be sung to pre-existing music, with suggested solutions to such linguistic problems as those associated with rhythm, syllable count, vocal burden, rhyme, repetition and sound. Translation theory and translations of lyrics for other purposes, such as surtitles, are also covered. The book can serve as a primary text in courses on translating lyrics and as a reference and supplementary text for other courses and for professionals in the fields mentioned. Beyond academia, the book is of interest to professional translators and to librettists, singers, conductors, stage directors, and audience members. Cover HalfTitle Series Page Title Copyright Dedication Contents Figures Tables About this book Foreword Copyright acknowledgments Acknowledgments 1 Translation and music 1.1 A topic of increasing interest 1.2 Prima la musica? 2 Singable translations 2.1 Musical and verbal constraints 2.2 Other factors 2.3 Multiple audiences to satisfy 2.4 A good example 2.5 Singable translations versus projected captions 3 Foreignization and domestication 3.1 Foreign words 3.2 Wardour Street 3.3 Homophony 3.4 Important words 3.5 Rhyme 3.6 Repetition 3.7 Nonsense words 3.8 Slang 3.9 Jokes 4 Adaptation and re-translation 4.1 Adaptation 4.2 Re-translation 5 Dealing with difference 5.1 Conventions 5.2 Common knowledge 5.3 Historicity 5.4 Sensibility 6 Censorship and taboos 6.1 Forbidden music 6.2 Forbidden words 6.3 Forbidden ideas 7 Once upon which time? 7.1 Once upon a time 7.2 Once upon a specific time 7.3 Right now 8 Verbal delineation of character 8.1 Seventeenth-century French rustics 8.2 Ad libbing in dialect 8.3 Wagner’s Das Rheingold 8.4 Changing a speech pattern 9 Multiple translations 10 When the music is missing 11 Verbal and musical form 11.1 Rhythm 11.2 Rhyme and closure 11.3 Repetition 11.4 Dynamics and crests 11.5 When the composer ignores the verbal form 12 Music and meaning 12.1 Inherent and acquired meaning in music 12.2 The physical act of singing 12.3 Sound and sense 12.4 The right word on the right note Afterword Bibliography Index