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The Translator as Poltergeist: Handling Polyphony in a Poem
The Translator as Poltergeist: Handling Polyphony in a Poem
Michael Emmerlich argues that a translator does not exist “in between” texts. Rather, “both languages are living inside of her, in constantly shifting concentrations and configurations. She is not a bridge; she is something like a ghost” or noisy poltergeist.
Also moving away from a central presence, Christi A. Merrill argues that we get too caught up in “(European) notions of single authorship when the creative process is decidedly plural.” As a poltergeist-translators, we find ourselves darting to switch between the many voices our decidedly plural poetic texts offer. We look at translating polyphony in poetry through the works of Bella Akhmadulina, Galina Rymbu, and Olga Berggoltz and expanding notions of individuated “ownership” of a text.
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Moderator
Alex Braslavsky is a PhD candidate at Harvard University, studying Russian, Polish, and Czech poetry. Her translations of Zuzanna Ginczanka appear in Asymptote and Exchanges. She is currently translating selections of Bella Akhmadulina’s poetry. She is a poet herself and her work has been shortlisted for the Martin Starkie and Dart Prizes by Hannah Sullivan.
Presenters
Helena Kernan is a PhD candidate in Slavic Languages and Literatures at UC Berkeley. Her translations of Elena Kostyleva have appeared in the journal Modern Poetry in Translation. Her translations of Galina Rymbu, Egana Dzhabbarova, and Daria Serenko are forthcoming at Ugly Duckling Presse and Common Era Books. She was the inaugural Pushkin House Translator in Residency at Oxford University. Venya Gushchin is a PhD Candidate in Slavic Languages and Literatures at Columbia University. His translations of Vladimir Mayakovsky have won the Columbia University Pushkin Prize and appear in Cardinal Points. His translations of Olga Berggoltz’s poetry is forthcoming from Smokestack Books. He is currently working on translating the essays of Yevsey Tseytlin.