Article published in:
Voice in Retranslation
Edited by Cecilia Alvstad and Alexandra Assis Rosa
[Target 27:1] 2015
► pp. 40–57

Translators’ voices in Norwegian retranslations of Bob Dylan’s songs

| Norwegian University of Science and Technology

This paper tackles several questions relating to the issue of the translator’s voice in retranslation: how do others’ voices (including other (re)translations) interact with the translator’s voice in the production of a translation? How does the intersubjectively constituted voice of the translator manifest itself in paratexts, in the translated text and, in the case of singer-translators, in the translator’s physical, performing voice? The case discussed is that of Bob Dylan in (re)translation into Norwegian, and it is concluded that different singer-translators involve others in the process in various ways and to varying degrees; that there are great subjective differences in how and to what extent they take other (re)translations of Dylan into account; and that they choose different strategies for displaying their voices in paratexts, texts and performances, differences that can be explained by reference to the singer-translator’s role and status on the cultural scene.

Keywords: Bob Dylan, authenticity, popular music, retranslation, song translation, voice, Bakhtin, Trønder dialect, manifest voice, non-manifest voice
Article outline
  • 1.The collective nature of the translator’s voice
  • 2.The role of first translations and retranslations in constituting the singer-translator’s voice
  • 3.Paratextual voices
  • 4.Textual voices
    • 4.1“Mr. Tambourine Man”
    • 4.2“Shelter from the Storm”
  • 5.Physical voice
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Acknowledgments
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 09 February 2015
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.27.1.02gre
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