Otherness in the creation and translation of Puccini’s opera
Danielle Thien | Université de Genève, Faculté de Traduction et d’Interprétation, Switzerland
This paper looks at the role that translation has played in depicting Butterfly as Other. The
first part examines the translation processes that intervened in the transposition of Butterfly’s tale from short
story and play to opera. The second part provides an analysis of the earliest French and English translations of the
libretto using Lance Hewson’s approach to literary translation criticism. By taking a text-based approach, this study
puts into question the notion that modifying the meaning of a libretto is acceptable as long as the words conform to
the music. It also seeks to challenge the way in which Butterfly has sometimes been regarded as the archetype of the
Asian woman in Western imaginations.
Puccini, Giacomo. 1907. Madama Butterfly. Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Ed. by Giulio Ricordi. Milan: Ricordi.
Puccini, Giacomo. 1906. Madame Butterfly. Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Trans. by Paul Ferrier. Ed. by Giulio Ricordi. Milan: Ricordi.
Puccini, Giacomo. 1907. Madame Butterfly. Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Trans. by Rosette Helen Elkin. Ed. by Giulio Ricordi. New York: Ricordi.
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