Over the course of less than a decade, Leonard Cohen’s Book of Longing (2006), was translated into French three different times. The poetry collection of Cohen was first translated in Québec (Livre ...du constant désir, 2007) and then in France (Le livre du désir, 2008). In addition, seven poems published in Book of Longing previously appeared as songs on the studio album Ten New Songs (2001). The French release of this album was accompanied by a promotional booklet, in which French translations (made by Graeme Allwright) are printed. In this article, the question is raised whether these texts can be labeled as ‘retranslations’ or not. The three translations will first be compared in order to determine to what extent several power mechanisms have influenced the production of these translations, namely the dynamics between centre and periphery (Paris and Québec) and between highbrow-lowbrow cultural products (literature and music). These external factors will then be compared to a number of internal factors, i.e. a specific interpretation of Cohen’s poetry that may have influenced the adopted translation strategies of the three texts under consideration.
Noted historian Pierre Anctil takes a deep dive into editorials devoted to Jews and Judaism in Quebec's daily Le Devoir in the first half of the twentieth century. Long one of the most discussed ...historiographical issues in Canadian Jewish history, these editorials are of great significance as they are representative of the reaction of the nationalist Francophone elite to the Jewish presence in Montreal, to German Nazi State anti-Semitism and to the Shoah. Pierre Anctil proposes a new reading of the editorials published in the pages of Le Devoir from 1910 to 1947--from the founding of the newspaper by Henri Bourassa until the death of its second director, Georges Pelletier. During that time, some two hundred editorials were devoted to Jews and Judaism, of which Anctil has selected sixty for inclusion in this volume. Although many of the editorials conveyed the clearly anti-Semitic views of Le Devoir's editorialists and of Quebec society at large, a number of the editorials did express positive views of Jewish activities and accomplishments in Quebec society. Readers will find this to be an in-depth analysis and nuanced treatment of an important aspect of Canadian Jewish history.
Literature and music are constants in Cohen's oeuvre. but how do the two relate to each other? Various scholars have already addressed this issue, mainly within the context of Canadian scholarship. ...This article will show that Translation/Reception Studies and Genetic Criticism also provide interesting perspectives for conceptualizing the complex relationship between music and literature, concentrating on the specific case of poems that evolved into songs. Using the case study of "Suzanne", I will show that a Translation Studies perspective can be a useful heuristic tool in considering poems that evolve into songs a form of intersemiotic self-translation. On the other hand, given that Cohen continually rewrote and reworked many of his texts, Genetic Criticism can help to conceptualize the evolution in and of the oeuvre as a whole. The current available oeuvre and the many statements made by Cohen himself are already promising and suggest that the rewriting technique is not limited to isolated "works in progress", but is a constant in Cohen's writing practice, which can be regarded as a great "oeuvre in progress". For the time being, however, we must wait for the archives to be opened to formulate more concrete hypotheses.
Depuis un certain nombre d’années, les recherches sur les « minores » se sont multipliées. Des auteurs ou des œuvres oubliés sont mis à l’honneur par la communauté scientifique en raison de leur ...visibilité, de leur popularité ou de leur importance au moment de leur parution. En des termes plus forts, il s’agit donc d’un besoin de rectification de la réalité historique. Pourtant, cette visibilité contraste avec leur absence dans la plupart des histoires littéraires, dont les auteurs s’identifi...
Abstract In this contribution, we examine the relationship between text and context in multimodal translation practices by focusing on the Québécois film À tout prendre (1963; directed by Claude ...Jutra) and its English version, Take It All (translated by Leonard Cohen). The first two sections provide contextual information, while Section 3 is dedicated to a comparative analysis, in which a more central role is given to the film itself and to the archival documents (such as draft versions of the French script and the English translation). On the whole, Take It All results from a complex interplay of factors: the overuse of reduction (condensation and deletion) despite the absence of spatial or temporal limitations; Cohen’s limited translation experience, combined with his influential profile as an artist; and the assumed intended target audience. The subtitles serve as an ancillary device, offering a minimalist representation of the original dialogue. Regarding the linguistic transfer itself, no misunderstandings have been encountered, although the translation can be said to diverge substantially from the original in numerous respects. Consequently, the English version exhibits a less intricate network of interrelationships and it can be argued that the subtitles have not significantly contributed to the film’s internationalization journey.
Em menos de uma década, o Book of Longing Livro do desejo de Leonard Cohen (2006) foi traduzido para o francês três vezes. A coleção de poemas de Cohen foi primeiramente traduzida no Québec (Livre du ...constant désir, 2007), e então na França (Le livre du désir, 2008). Além disso, sete poemas do Book of Longing apareceram previamente como canções no álbum Ten New Songs Dez novas canções (2011). O lançamento francês do álbum foi acompanhado por um libreto promocional, no qual foram impressas traduções para o francês (feitas por Graeme Allwright). Neste artigo, pergunta-se se estes textos podem ser tachados como retraduções ou não. As três traduções serão inicialmente comparadas, para se determinar até que ponto diferentes mecanismos de poder influenciaram a produção destas traduções, a saber: a dinâmica entre centro e periferia (Paris e Québec), e entre produtos de alta e baixa cultura (literatura e música). Estes fatores externos serão então comparados a um certo número de fatores internos, i.e. a interpretação específica da poesia de Cohen que pode ter influenciado as estratégias tradutórias do três textos sob consideração.
The shock of the First World War resulted in a range of initiatives that, on the artistic level, radically called into question a number of fundamental concepts. While the function of new art was a ...topic that was discussed in different European countries, the international orientation of each national art differed from country to country. In Belgium, this was a complex issue. Notions such as ‘literature’ and especially ‘internationalism’ became the subject of a harsh battle for definition that was carried out in several literary and artistic magazines. In this article, I look at how these terms were defined within the artistic group surrounding the Brussels magazine L’Art libre (1919–22). I will give a general definition of internationalism in order to then elaborate the extent to which it may come into conflict with a focus on local, Flemish reality. As a social entity, Flanders did indeed fit into the internationalist program to recognize suppressed nations. Yet as an artistic entity, its existence was more problematically situated within a tendency for ever-increasing artistic internationalization. My analysis will show a number of discursive and argumentative strategies used by writers and critics in order to legitimate the idea of ‘Flanders’, both as a literary and as a social entity.
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