Chapter published in:
Opera in Translation: Unity and diversityEdited by Adriana Şerban and Kelly Kar Yue Chan
[Benjamins Translation Library 153] 2020
► pp. 291–314
Two English translations of Jaroslav Kvapil’s Rusalka libretto
Patrick John Corness | Coventry University, UK
This study investigates two translations into English of Jaroslav Kvapil’s
Rusalka libretto, set to music by Antonín Dvořák: the singing translation in verse by Daphne
Rusbridge (1954) and Paula Kennedy’s
(1998) prose translation. It identifies sources in mythologies and folk tales, and outlines notable
characteristics of language and composition in the Czech libretto. Semantic and stylistic shifts are discussed, with
the aim of highlighting the impact of constraints under which the translators had to work, rather than criticising
discovered shifts as avoidable errors. A summary of the translation shifts found, and their implications for the
reception in English of Kvapil’s libretto, includes both critical and favourable comments.
Keywords: Rusalka, Czech mythology, Jaroslav Kvapil, Antonín Dvořák, translation shift, opera translation, singing translation, singability
Article outline
- 1.Genesis of the Rusalka libretto and of the opera
- 2.English translations of Rusalka
- 3.A comparison of two selected translations of the Rusalka libretto
- 4.Semantic and stylistic shifts in the two translations
- 4.1Act 1: The opening scene
- 4.2The aria to the moon
- 4.3Ježibaba, the forest witch
- 4.4The axis of the drama and the dénouement
- 4.5The final dénouement
- 5.Concluding remarks
-
Notes -
References
Published online: 29 October 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.153.14cor
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.153.14cor
References
Primary sources
Kvapil, Jaroslav
Secondary sources
Catford, John C.
Cheek, Timothy
Dvořák, Antonín
Dvořák, Antonín, and Jaroslav Kvapil
Gabrielová, Jarmila
Gorlée, Dinda L.
Grimm, Jacob
1883 Teutonic Mythology. Translated from the fourth edition with notes and appendix by James Steven Stallybrass. Volume 2. London: George Bell & Sons. Available at https://archive.org/details/teutonicmytholo02grim, last accessed 23 March 2020.
Hallová, Markéta
Ingarden, Roman
Jandová, Milena
n.d. Rusalka (English surtitles – unpublished text). National Theatre, Prague.
Kaindl, Klaus
Levý, Jiří
Munday, Jeremy
Stich, Alexandr
Tóth, Pavel
Valšubová, Alena
Vinay, Jean-Paul, and Jean Darbelnet
Vomáčka, Ivan
n.d. Rusalka. English surtitles – unpublished text. National Theatre, Prague.