Translating Poetry

[The Study of Language]

Poetry presents special challenges to translators, given the importance of a text's formal aspects, in addition to its content. In his influential 1959 paper "On Linguistic Aspects of Translation," the Russian-born linguist and semiotician Roman Jakobson went so far as to declare that "poetry by definition [is] untranslatable."

In 1974 the American poet James Merrill wrote a poem, "Lost in Translation," which in part explores this idea. The question was also discussed in Douglas Hofstadter's 1997 book, Le Ton beau de Marot; he argues that a good translation of a poem must convey as much as possible not only of its literal meaning, but of its form and structure (meter, rhyme or alliteration scheme, etc.).

GOOD WISHES

[محمد العنزي]

Thanks a lot brother

May God please you

Regards

[fares]

I definetly agree with Mr. Jakobson that poety is untranslatable . Words are easy but the feelings , images and stories behind them , no way. Just think of some translating Ahmed Shouqi , Hafiz Ibraheem regardless to say earlier arabic poetry like Jahili or early islamic era . Then how about folklore such as nabati , southern qalta ..etc . Sorry but you have to read Poetry in the language it was written in to fully have an enjoyable experince

[فارس لا يترجل]

thank you

good effort

[AucuneIdée]

Theoretically, I agree with you that poetry is untranslatable. I may quote Jakobson in a research paper for I'll need all the important resources old or new. Other than that, 1959 seems to be ancient for a modern science as translation and many ideas have changed since then . I'm speaking now as a reader of translated pieces of poetry not as a translator. Nowadays we demand a faithful translation of a work that when we read the work in its original language we feel that we are reading it the second time . Thanks for the topic Study of Language .

[Ray of Hope]

thanks a lot dear brother

I love Poetry

But once a Prof told me to translate poetry, you have to have a sense of a poet
He might be wrong, and might not

To be honest it is difficult to translate

All the best luck

Sweet Regards

[فهد القحطاني]

Thanks brother

Good luck