Zur Translatologie der von Dichtern übersetzten Gedichte: „die grausamsten aller Huldigungen“ an das Original?

Abstract

The essay addresses George Steiner’s reference to Paul Celan’s trans­la­tion of Jules Supervielle’s poem Chanson in the context of his account of trans­fig­u­ra­tive translations that betray the original even as the original is elevated in poetic richness––Celan’s translation is cited as a prime example of a translation that com­pen­sates for the weaknesses of the original. In this regard, my aim is to question two matters in particular: (1) The apodictic and strongly polarizing style of Steiner’s com­mentary which declares Celan’s translation to be the “cruelest homage” to Su­per­vielle’s rather “conventional” original; (2) Steiner’s conception of the re­la­tion­ship between source and target text as an exercise in aiming at reciprocity and com­pen­sation. These two matters will be discussed against the backdrop of con­tem­po­rary translatological conceptions of the relationship between source and target text. It will be suggested that the critical discussion of Steiner’s position heavily depends upon the category of identity: translation––and the original––possess their own lit­er­ariness and convey a specific poetic statement, and in this case, the objective of this essay is to argue that this should be recognized or acknowledged as true, and that it is not necessary to play the one off against the other.