Journal of European Studies
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Translating repetition
Jean Boase-Beier
Journal of European Studies 1994 24: 403
DOI: 10.1177/004724419402400404
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xxm
J Studies, 403-
European (1994), 403~09 Pnnted m
England
Translating repetition
JEAN BOASE-BEIER*
University of East Anglia
1.
Stylistics and translation
When
translating any literary text there seem to be two main
approaches. Some translators do it intuitively, and hope for the best.
Others favour a more
systematic, analytical approach. My own view
is that
any literary translation must involve a careful stylistic analysis
of the source text because translation is not a transference
merely of
but also of
sense,
style, and in fact these often cannot be separated in
a
literary text. This is particularly true of poetry. Whether such
first, as
analysis comes groundwork, whether it comes after the
translation in the form of or whether it is done
editing, implicitly
during the act of translation itself is of little importance, and does not
seem
necessarily to have an effect on the result. But it must be done,
and it must be an
integral part of the translation.
2. The
poem
The poem  Damit kein Licht uns liebe was first
by Rose Auslander
published in 1965 and now appears as one of a new collection of
Auslander s poems in
English translation.
The first a reader has of Auslander s poems is
impression
one of
frequently great simplicity: of syntax, of lexis, of image and of
concept. On analysis, this often turns out to be economy, rather than
simplicity, for the language is extremely compressed, often
a
not, on first
ambiguous, and of stylistic complexity which is
reading, apparent.
Damit kein Licht uns liebe
1 Sie kamen
they came
* Address for
Languages and
correspondence: Dr Jean Boase-Beier, School of Modern
Studies, 7TJ.
European University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR4
0047-2441/94/2404-0403 $5.00 @ 1994 Richard Sadler Ltd
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404
2 mit scharfen Fahnen und Pistolen
with and guns
sharp flags
3 schossen alle Sterne und den Mond ab
shot all stars and the moon down
4 damit kein Licht uns bliebe
so-that no
light to-us could-remain (subjunctive)
5 damit kein Licht uns liebe
so-that no us could-love
light (subjunctive)
6 Da
begruben wir die Sonne
there buried we the sun
7 Es war eine unendliche Sonnenfinsternis
it was an eternal
(solar)
eclipse
3.
Stylistic analysis
A
stylistic analysis of any poem reveals points which will require
particular attention in the translation. This does not mean that any
particular stylistic figure may or must be rendered in the same way
in the translated text as in the a similar
original. But if figure is not
available in the or cannot be used at this
target language, point
without sense or sound of the translated
version, then
sacrificing the
other means of
must, if
transferring it possible, be found.
This is
which, rather than
especially true of stylistic devices simply
adding structure to the poem, actually contribute directly to its
meaning.
In this poem, there are various
figures and devices which stylistic
analysis reveals to be important: individual metaphors (Da begruben
wir die for or the
Sonne),
example, complex metaphor which makes
up the whole poem.
One of the most is the use
however,
striking aspects of the poem,
of
repetition. For stylistic purposes it can be assumed that repetition
involves the use of elements of are
language which equivalent. In
other
words,
they need not necessarily be identical. In fact, repetition
as a
stylistic figure relies largely upon the presence of an identical
element
repeated in contexts which vary from one another. Thus full
rhyme, which might be considered the stereotypical instance of
repetition, consists of identical vowels and final consonant clusters,
but the are not
preceding sounds must be different; identical words
as instances of
regarded rhyme. Other types of rhyme (alliteration,
for or involve
assonance)
example, identity in other segments of the
words in
question. Repetition, however, does not just involve
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405
recurrence of
sounds. It
may also rest on an equivalence of syntactic
structure or of the
semantic content of individual words.
In this poem
there are at least
eight instances of phonological or
2,
syntactic repetition, which must be
carefully noted. In lines 1 and
the sound is
[a:]
repeated in kamen, scharfen and Fahnen. This is
followed
[J]
by a repetition of ] in scharfen, schossen and Sterne.
There is further assonance in the words
alle, ab, damit, damit, where
the sound is
[a]
coincidental; it tends
repeated, but this may well be
to be less
striking where it falls on words of lesser semantic content.
there is the
Furthermore,
repeated [i] sound of Pistolen, damit,
Licht, damit, Licht.
Lines 4 and 5
provide syntactic, semantic and phonological
same words
repetition; they have the same structure and contain the
except for the final word in each line, and these rhyme.
a are also common as textual
Repetitions of purely semantic nature
devices,
particularly in poems, and there are a number of instances
here. In
general, such repetitions involve words which share
elements of
meaning, usually words from the same semantic field,
words with some shared
associations, or even words which contrast
in we shall refer to series of words which are related
meaning.2 Here
semantically in one of these ways as  semantic chains .
In this poem there is a chain of words concerned with
light: Sterne
(stars), Mond (moon), Licht
(light), Licht, Sonne (sun), Sonnenfinsternis
(eclipse). There is also an actual repetition of the lexical element Sonne,
once as the word Sonne and once as the first element of the
compound
Sonnenfinsternis; thus the semantic repetition of the two words is in
the form of a contrast. There is the
repetition of the semantic aspect of
constancy in the rhymed words bliebe (remain) and liebe (love), which
is taken up
again, though this time with negative connotations, in
unendliche And
(eternal).
finally there is a repeated concept of death
or destruction: Pistolen ...
(guns), schossen ab (shot down), begruben
(buried),
-finsternis (literally darkness). It is interesting to note that the
compound Sonnenfinsternis brings together both the semantic chain of
light and that of death. Because they are to some extent contrasting -
certainly they are contrasted here - this compound is an oxymoron. It
is also the final word in the poem. The
significance of this word, both
in terms of semantic and
spatial structure, points to its being a key
word. The
juxtaposition of this word with unendliche in this final
Sonnenfinsternis also links these two semantic
phrase unendliche
chains with the other one of
major constancy. Without further
it will
consideration
immediately be obvious that this compound is
poem into English.
going to cause problems for the translation of the
The
Sonnenfinsternis, eclipse, while it semantically
English equivalent of
connects both chains
just as well as the German, does not do so
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406
explicitly in the form of the word. Thus the concrete nature of the
repetition would become lost if the word were translated thus. I shall
return to this
problem later.
Repetitions are important in texts and especially in poems because
they add structure. However, they contribute more
substantially to
are also
meaning in that they frequently iconic. That is to say,
repetitions in the language of a poem may mirror repetitions in the
world the poem is
describing.
In this
poem, the various linguistic repetitions do in fact suggest
the
repetitive nature of the situation described. This sense of
constancy or lack of change is expressed most strongly at two places
in the poem; the almost exact
repetition of two complete lines (lines
4 and and the final two words of the unendliche
5)
poem:
words, we are
Sonnenfinsternis. In other talking not of temporary
events and
states, but of
changeable repeated acts and permanent
darkness. It is a
very pessimistic poem, even for Rose Auslander.
The realization that as are
repetitions such these not only
important for structuring ideas, but actually mirror iconically those
ideas, has two
important consequences for the translator. The first is
that a
(for
non-repetitive structuring of the poem example, lines
which
grow shorter or longer, structures which become more or less
complex in the course of the poem) will not preserve the iconic
element. For it is the
figure of repetition itself, and not merely its
function as a means of
structure, which is essential. The
adding
second consequence is
that,
though the figure of repetition is
not in
essential, it does every case matter which elements actually
carry the repetition, for it is often the repetition in itself, rather than
the
repetition of a particular element, which matters. Thus the
constraint which the central role of
repetition places on the translator
is also a source of freedom. A solution must be found which takes
these two
points into account. For example: if the repetition of the [a]
sound in
kamen,
scharfen, Fahnen is judged not to be onomatopoeic,
then this sound need not be
do,
repeated. In a sense, any sound will
need not even be a sound. It could be
and, in fact, it
replaced, for
example, by syntactic repetition. The repetition of Sonne, however, in
an
Sonnenfinsternis (lines 6 and 7) is not merely example of repetition
for the sake of some sort of
general iconicity: it serves to contrast
light and darkness and these words must be contrasted in the
too.
translation, However,
though in theory one may separate non-
iconic some form of
repetition from that which is iconic simply of
repetitiveness and also from iconic repetition of specific elements, in
practice it will usually be found that all three aspects are combined to
varying degrees. But knowledge of all these aspects is essential when
choosing what to translate as what.
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.
407
It need be the intention of a translation of this
not, then,
poem to
sounds, nor even to link
repeat the same
by phonological repetition
the same words as
the
original does. But repetition itself as a concept
is
absolutely essential. This means it must be
reproduced, though the
translator has the or she can best
freedom to
reproduce it where he
do so.
4. The translation
The
English translation of the poem, as it appears in a new collection
of Rose Auslander s as follows:
poems ; is
And Shut Out Their Love
came
They
with
guns and jagged banners
shot down the moon and all the stars
and shut out their
light
and shut out their love
That we buried the sun
day
And there was eternal
night
5.
Repetition and translation - the problems and their solution
The various instances of
phonological repetition in the poem can be
rendered
by using a number of such figures in the translated version.
This is done
banners, a [g]
by using a repeated [a] sound in jagged and
sound in love and sun, the slant
shut,
guns and jagged, a [A] in guns,
shut, as well as the consonance of shot, shut and
rhyme of shot and
that.
Rendering the three semantic chains of light, death and constancy
(both
positive and negative) in the English translation is not difficult,
as indeed the translation of semantic chains
rarely is of itself.
Difficulties
arise when there is a conflict between various
patterns in
the poem. Bliebe and liebe in the German
original are not only
elements in
the semantic chain of
constancy but are also in key
positions both as rhymed words and as the only elements of
variation in the otherwise
exactly repeated structure of lines 4 and 5.
But in
English the equivalent verbs do not rhyme. And they cannot
be as in the
placed in sentence-final position to give the contrast,
German,
merely of these two verbs. English syntax demands a
final words are nouns. And these also cannot be
different order: the
made to
rhyme. Instead the alliteration of light/love is used here. In
are three
fact, there
types of parallelism in the English, just as in the
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408
German: the lines are
word,
exactly similar except for the final there
is the alliteration
just referred to, and that faint semantic association
of
bliebe/liebe is
constancy in captured equally, though
differently, in
light/love. Here it is not the association of constancy which
provides
the semantic
connection, as in bliebe/liebe but the direct association of
an association
love,
light with particularly important and explicit in
this
poem.
The words in the first semantic chain of
Sterne, Mond, Licht, Sonne
are rendered a different and are
order,
exactly into English, though in
augmented by day in line 6. The semantic chain of death - Pistolen,
schossen ...
ab,
begruben, finsternis - again presents no difficulties. The
additional association of
burying is strengthened by shut out, which
occurs twice. And the slant
shut/shot, which
rhyme in emphasizes this
particular chain, is itself underlined by the syntactic parallelism of
the
phrases shot down the moon and shut out their light, which is not
6,
present in the original but, like the addition of day in line might be
seen as
 compensation for some of the lost patterning. The chain of
constancy in bliebe, liebe, unendliche is captured in love and eternal.
As mentioned
above, the most
challenging problem in translating
this
is,
poem is the compound Sonnenfinsternis. There firstly, the
a
problem of the lack of transparency in the English language,
constant
problem when translating from German to English. There is
also the
general paucity of compounding in English to contend with.
Because combine two elements
compounds (semantically,
syntactically and spatially) they are a good device for linking two
semantic chains or other related structures. But
Sonnenfinsternis in
German is
usually rendered by eclipse in English. There was an eternal
eclipse has nothing at all to recommend it. It does not sound like
[il
English. The rhythm is wrong. And the alliteration of the is ugly,
serve the purpose of
though it would, in fact, iconicity. Moreover, the
phrase does not pick up the various threads of the poem, it does not
overtly, but only semantically, contrast with sun and it does not
contain an
oxymoron.
A
partial solution to this problem has been found by replacing
Sonnenfinsternis with night. Eternal night has the right apocalyptic
a
4,
ring. Night rhymes with light in line bringing satisfying
additional
repetition to the closing word. It is also the opposite of
a
light, further parallelism.
It was the choice of
night for the final word of the poem which led
to the choice of that as a consonance
day rendering for da. Besides the
mentioned above with shot and
shut, this
heightens the
phrase
contrast with
night in the following line, thus going some way
towards
Sonne/
making up for the absence of that strong contrast
Sonnenfinsternis.
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.
409
6. In conclusion
In conclusion it
that,
may be said though an intuitive translation may
well
produce a good
English poem, it may also miss many essential
elements of the
original. I am not arguing here for a translation which
is  faithful at the a
expense of being good poem. On the contrary,
stylistic analysis makes
possible a more careful reading, which
should in turn allow a
rendering which is exact in conveying
essential elements while not
being tied by an attempt to render these
elements in the same
places and with the same means. Thus close
translation, while at
stylistic analysis should encourage boldness in
the same time
helping to add structure and texture, and contributing
to the resolution of some of the difficult choices which translation
always imposes upon its practitioners.
NOTES
1. See on the nature of
Kiparsky (1973) and Nemoianu (1971) repetition
2. On semantic fields and sense see
relations,
Lyons (1977)
3. Mother a selection of Rose Auslander s poems translated
Jean Boase-
Tongue, by
Beier and
Anthony Vivis, will be published by Arc Publications, Todmorden, in
1994.
4. For a use of
study of the compounds in poetry see Boase-Beier (1987).
REFERENCES
Gesammelte Gedichte
Auslander, Rose,
(Cologne: Braun, 1977).
Auslander, Rose, Mother Jean Boase-Beier
Tongue, A selection of poems translated by
and
Anthony Vivis (Todmorden: Arc Publications, to appear).
Boase-Beier,
Jean, Poetic
Compounds: The Principles of Poetic Language in Modern English
Poetry (Tubingen: Niemeyer, 1987).
a
Kiparsky, Paul,  The role of linguistics in theory of poetry , Daedalus, cii (1973),
231-44.
Vol. I
1977).
John, Semantics, CUP,
Lyons, (Cambridge:
v
Nemoianu, (1971), 246-64.
Virgil,  Levels of study in the semantics of rhyme , Style,
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