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Article published In:
FORUM
Vol. 8:1 (2010) ► pp.1–35

Louis Zukofsky and The West Wing

Metaphors of Mentorship, Yiddish, and Translation at Street Level1

| Chair, English Program Ohalo College, Israel

Cet article utilise la traduction dans le but de mettre en évidence quelques malaises moraux majeurs ancrés dans la réalité quotidienne d'une culture américaine en apparence hétérogène et dont la prétention est de considérer que "tous les hommes sont semblables». La discussion porte sur deux types de relations. L'un concerne la relation oedipienne tourmentée et inquiétante existant entre les personnages de la Maison Blanche dans la série télévisée américaine « West Wing » , à savoir le Directeur de la Communication Toby Ziegler et le Président des Etats-Unis Josiah Bartlet. Le second est la relation intense et instable entre l'Amérique du moderniste Ezra Pound et son disciple juif au caractère obstiné , Louis Zukofsky. Tant dans le cas fictionnel de Toby Ziegler que dans celui non-fictionnel de Louis Zukofsky, la traduction apparaît telle que la langue et la culture des communautés immigrées se font sentir, soit dans le texte imprimé soit dans les sous-titres. Plus important encore, la traduction ne survient pas, comme Walter Benjamin le fait valoir, dans un " style linguistique plus élevé et plus pur», mais plutôt dans un style populaire, soulignant par làmême d'importantes différences culturelles souvent passées sous silence dans le discours dominant. Ainsi, l'article traite des représentations complexes des deux ensembles de relations dans les textes, ainsi que de la réalité tout aussi complexe de la politique américaine, en particulier après la récente élection du président Barack Obama.

Keywords: Zukofsky, Yiddish, translation, West Wing, mentorship
Published online: 1 April 2010
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/forum.8.1.01abe
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