Cover not available
Part of
Opera in Translation: Unity and diversity
Edited by Adriana Şerban and Kelly Kar Yue Chan
[Benjamins Translation Library 153] 2020
► pp. 337–357

Multilingual libretti across linguistic borders and translation modes

| Instituto Cervantes at Harvard University, US / University of Oviedo, Spain

Following up my research on multilingualism in opera production, reception and translation, this paper goes further into the relationship between translation and linguistically heterogeneous libretti, now focusing on the texts themselves. Plurilingual operas encourage reflection on how important it is to understand the semantic content of the various languages in order to grasp the comunicative value and / or enjoy these works; the advisability of neutralising the verbal diversity – integral to their meaning – in the translation process must be questioned too. The paper also analyses the translation strategies used in subtitling and CD inserts for some multilingual libretti, which show varying functions and degrees of heteroglossia, in order to observe whether those textual features determine translation choices as much as the translation mode.

Keywords: multilingualism, opera, language-music relationship, meaning, translation strategies, translation modes, subtitling, CD-inserts
Article outline
  • 1.Multilingual operas and translation
  • 2.Theoretical issues raised by multilingual operas in translation
    • 2.1The issue of meaning
    • 2.2The issue of translation
  • 3.Textual strategies for multilingual libretti
    • 3.1Features of multilingual operas
    • 3.2Multilingualism in target opera texts
      • 3.2.1‘Type a’ multilingual operas in translation
      • 3.2.2‘Type b’ multilingual operas in translation
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 29 October 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/btl.153.16mat
References (39)

Primary sources

Behr, Randall
(cond.) 1990 Orlando furioso, by Antonio Vivaldi. DVD. San Francisco Opera Orchestra. ArtHausMusik.Google Scholar
Davies, Colin
(cond.) 1983 Oedipus Rex, by Igor Stravinsky. CD. Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Orfeo.Google Scholar
Davis, Andrew
(cond.) 1995 The Makropulos Case, by Leoš Janáček. DVD. Glyndebourne Festival Opera., directed by Nikolaus Lëhnhoff, NVC Arts.Google Scholar
Karajan, Herbert von
(cond.) 1984 Der Rosenkavalier, by Richard Strauss. CD. Wiener Philharmoniker. Deutsche Gramophon.Google Scholar
Kleiber, Carlos
(cond.) 1994 Der Rosenkavalier, by Richard Strauss. DVD. Wiener Staatsoper, directed by Otto Schenk and Horant H. Hohlfeld. Deutsche Gramophon.Google Scholar
Levine, James
(cond.) 1987 Eugene Onegin by Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky. CD. Staatskapelle Dresden. Deutsche Gramophon.Google Scholar
Mackerras, Charles
(cond.) 2007 The Makropulos Case, by Leoš Janáček. CD. English National Opera. CHANDOS, Opera in English.Google Scholar
Solti, Georg
(cond.) 1988 Eugene Onegin, by Pyotr I. Tchaikovsky. Film adaptation, directed by Petr Weigl. DVD. DECCA / Channel 4.Google Scholar
Spinosi, Jean-Christophe
(cond.) 2004 Orlando furioso, by Antonio Vivaldi. CD. Ensemble Matheus. Tesori del Piemonte, Istituto per i beni musicali in Piemonte.Google Scholar
Taymor, Julie
(prod. and dir.) 1993 Oedipus Rex, by Igor Stravinsky. DVD. Conducted by Seiji Ozawa. Philips.Google Scholar

Secondary sources

Barbier, Pierre-É.
1993 “ Oedipus Rex ou le mythe pétrifié.” In Oedipus Rex. DVD-insert, Philips, 11–15.Google Scholar
Bassnett, Susan
2000 “Theatre and Opera.” In Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation, ed. by Peter France, 96–103. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Clüver, Claus
2008 “Revisiting the Classics. The Translation of Opera as a Multimedia Text. Die Oper als Textgestalt: Perspektiven einer interdisziplinären Übersetzungswissenschaft. Klaus Kaindl.” The Translator 14 (2): 401–409. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Corse, Sandra
1987 Opera and the Uses of Language: Mozart, Verdi, and Britten. Rutherford: Associated University Press.Google Scholar
de Higes-Andino, Irene
2014 “The Translation of Multilingual Films: Modes, Strategies, Constraints and Manipulation in the Spanish Translations of It’s a Free World… ” Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 13: 211–231.Google Scholar
Delaméa, Frédéric
2004 “ Orlando Furioso, the Dramatique Credo of the Prete Rosso.” In Orlando Furioso. CD-insert, Istituto per i beni musicali in Piemonte, 30–35.Google Scholar
Desblache, Lucile
2013 “Tales of the Unexpected: Opera as a New Art of Glocalization.” In Music, Text and Translation, ed. by Helen Julia Minors, 9–19. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Fornäs, Johan
1997 “Text and Music Revisited.” Theory, Culture & Society 14 (3): 109–123. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Golomb, Harai
2005 “Music-linked Translation (MLT) and Mozart’s Operas: Theoretical, Textual and Practical Approaches.” In Song and Significance. Virtues and Vices of Vocal Translation, ed. by Dinda Gorlée, 121–161. Amsterdam: Rodopi.Google Scholar
Gorlée, Dinda L.
1997 “Intercode Translation: Words and Music in Opera.” Target 9 (2): 235–270. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Harrison, Max
1993 “A Tragedy of Epic Impersonality.” In Oedipus Rex. DVD-insert, Philips, 7–10.Google Scholar
Holland, Dietmar
1983 CD-insert of Oedipus Rex, Orfeo, 2.Google Scholar
Kramer, Lawrence
1999 “Beyond Words and Music: An Essay on Songfulness.” In Word and Music Studies: Defining the Field, ed. by Walter Bernhart, Steven P. Scher, and Werner Wolf, 303–319. Rodopi: Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Kristeva, Julia
[1974] 1984 Revolution in Poetic Language. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Levinson, Jerrold
1984 “Hybrid Art Forms.” Journal of Aesthetic Education 18 (4): 5–13. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Low, Peter
2003 “Translating Poetic Songs. An Attempt at a Functional Account of Strategies.” Target 15 (1): 91–110. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017 Translating Song. Lyrics and Texts. London and New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Mann, William
1982 “ Der Rosenkavalier. An Introduction.” CD-insert of Der Rosenkavalier, Deutsche Gramophon, 29–34.Google Scholar
Marks, Dennis
2007 “Janáček: The Makropulos Case.” CD-insert of The Makropulos Case, 10–14.Google Scholar
Mateo, Marta
2007 “Surtitling Today: New Uses, Attitudes and Developments.” Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 6: 135–154.Google Scholar
2014 “Multilingualism as Part of Opera Production, Reception and Translation.” Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 13: 326–354.Google Scholar
2017 “Babel in Opera: Translation Strategies for Montsalvatge’s Multilingual Babel 46 .” In AIETI 8: Superando límites en traducción e interpretación / Beyond Limits in translation and Interpreting, ed. by Carmen Valero Garcés, and Carmen Pena Díaz, 165–174. Geneva: Éditions Tradulex.Google Scholar
O’Sullivan, Carol
2011 Translating Popular Film. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ruwet, Nicolas
2002 “Función de la palabra en la música vocal.” [The Function of Words in Vocal Music] In Música y literatura: Estudios comparativos y semiológicos [Music and Literature: Comparative and Semiotic Studies], ed. by Carolyn Abbate, and Silvia Alonso, 63–92. Madrid: Arco Libros.Google Scholar
Stratford, Madeleine
2008 “Au tour de Babel ! Les défis multiples du multilingualisme” [At / around Babel! The Multiple Challenges of Multilingualism]. Meta 53 (3): 457–470. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sutcliffe, Tom
1996 Believing in Opera. London: Faber and Faber.Google Scholar
Şerban, Adriana, and Reine Meylærts
(eds) 2014 Multilingualism at the Cinema and on Stage: A Translation Perspective. Special issue Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 13.Google Scholar
Voellmer, Elena, and Patrick Zabalbeascoa
2014 “How Heterolingual can a Dubbed Film be? Language Combinations and National Traditions as Determining Factors.” Linguistica Antverpiensia, New Series – Themes in Translation Studies 13: 232–250.Google Scholar