Cover not available
Article published In:
Translation in the Theatre
Edited by Cristina Marinetti
[Target 25:3] 2013
► pp. 307–320

Translation and theatre

From performance to performativity

 | Cardiff University
The last two decades have seen an increasing interest from different quarters in exploring the territory that exists between translation and theatre. Examining discussions of the nature of drama and theatre—that see them as performative rather than representative entities (Worthen 2003; Schechner 2002)—this article argues for a rethinking of the interdisciplinary relations between translation and theatre in the context of wider debates over the value of interdisciplinarity in translation studies (Pym 1998; Chesterman 2010; Bassnett 2012). Drawing on the contributions to this special issue, the social dimension of translation and the performative nature of culture are brought to the fore as productive new ways of studying translation in the theatre as a performative and social as well as a linguistic practice.
Keywords: interdisciplinarity, translation and theatre, performance, translation agency, performative
Article outline
  • 1.On the value of interdisciplinary dialogue
  • 2.Translation in the theatre: drama, performance and performativity
  • 3.This special issue
  • 4.Conclusion: What next?
  • Acknowledgement
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 11 October 2013
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/target.25.3.01mar
References (37)
References
Aaltonen, Sirkku. 2000. Time-sharing on Stage. Drama Translation in Theatre and Society. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
Baines, Roger, Cristina Marinetti, and Manuella Perteghella (eds). 2010. Staging and Performing Translation. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bassnett, Susan. 1990. “Translating for the Theatre: Textual Complexities.” Essays in Poetics 15 (1): 71–83.Google Scholar
. 1991. “Translating for the Theatre: The Case against Performability.” TTR 4 (1): 99–111.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1998. “Still Trapped in the Labyrinth: Further Reflections on Translation and Theatre.” In Constructing Cultures, ed. by Susan Bassnett, and André Lefevere, 90–108. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar
. 2012. “Translation Studies at Cross-roads.” In The Known Unknowns of Translation Studies, ed. by Elke Brems, Reine Meylaerts, and Luc van Doorslaer, Special issue of Target 24 (1): 15–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bigliazzi, Silvia, Paola Ambrosi, and Peter Kofler. 2013. “Introduction.” In Theatre Translation in Performance, ed. by Silvia Bigliazzi, Paola Ambrosi, and Peter Kofler, 1–27. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brems, Elke, Reine Meylaerts, and Luc Van Doorslaer. 2012. “A Discipline Looking Back and Looking Forward. An Introduction.” The Known Unknowns of Translation Studies. Special issue of Target 24 (1): 1–15. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Butler, Judith. 2006. Gender Trouble. 3rd edition. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Canning, Charlotte. 2013. “Editorial: Looking Ahead.” Theatre Research International 38 (1): 1–4.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Carlson, Marvin. 2003. Performance: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Chesterman, Andréw. 2010. “Translation Studies: Forum on Cultural Translation. A Response.” Translation Studies 3 (1): 103–106.Google Scholar
Cronin, Michael. 2013. Translation in the Digital Age. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Curran, Beverly. 2007. Theatre Translation Theory and Performance in Contemporary Japan. Native Voices, Foreign Bodies. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Espasa, Eva. 2000. “Performability in Translation: Speakability? Playability? Or Just Saleability?” In Moving Target: Theatre Translation and Cultural Relocation, ed. by Carole-Anne Upton, 49–63. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Gentzler, Edwin. 2008. Translation and Identity in the Americas. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Holmes, James. 1972/2000. “The Name and Nature of Translation Studies.” In The Translation Studies Reader, ed. by Lawrence Venuti, 172–186. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Inghilleri, Moira (ed.). 2005. Bourdieu and the Sociology of Translation and Interpreting. Special issue of The Translator 11 (2).Google Scholar
Johnston, David. 2004. “Securing the Performability of the Text.” In Drama Translation and Theatre Practice, ed. by Sabine Coelsch-Foisner, and Holger Klein, 24–43. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Lefevere, André. 1982. “Mother Courage's Cucumbers: Text, System and Refraction in a Theory of Literature.” Modern Language Studies 12 (4): 3–22.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 1992a. Translating Literature: Practice and Theory in a Comparative Literature Context. Modern Language Association of America.Google Scholar
. 1992b. Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of the Literary Fame. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Marinetti, Cristina. 2005. “The Limits of the Playtext: Translating Comedy.” New Voices in Translation Studies 11: 31–42.Google Scholar
. 2007. Beyond the Playtext: Beyond the Playtext: The Relationship between Text and Performance in the Translation of Il servitore di due padroni. PhD thesis. University of Warwick Publications (WRAP). Available at [URL] (Accessed: 30/05/2013).
. 2011. “Cultural Approaches.” In Handbook of Translation Studies. Vol. 21, ed. by Yves Gambier, and Luc van Dorsaaler, 26–30. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2013. “Transnational, Multilingual and Post-dramatic: The Location of Translation in Contemporary Theatre.” In Theatre Translation in Performance, ed. by Silvia Bigliazzi, Paola Ambrosi, and Peter Kofler, 27–38. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Marinetti, Cristina, and Margaret Rose. 2013. “Process, Practice and Landscapes of Reception: An Ethnographic Study of Theatre Translation.” Translation Studies 6 (2): 166–182.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meylaerts, Reine. 2006. “Heterolingualism in/and Translation: How Legitimate are the Other and His/Her Language? An Introduction.” Heterolingualism in Translation. Special issue of Target 18 (1): 1–15. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pym, Anthony. 1998. Method in Translation History. Manchester: St. Jerome.Google Scholar
Schechner, Richard. 2002. Performance Studies. An Introduction. 2nd edition. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Simon, Sherry. 1996. Gender in Translation. London: Routledge.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Snell-Hornby, Mary. 2006. The Turns of Translation Studies. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2007. “Theatre and Opera Translation.” In A Companion to Translation Studies, ed. by Piotr Kuhiwczak, and Karin Littau, 106–119. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tymoczko, Maria. 2010. “Translation Studies: Forum on Cultural Translation. A Response.” Translation Studies 3 (1): 106–110.Google Scholar
Wolf, Michaela, and Alexandra Fukari (eds). 2007. Constructing a Sociology of Translation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Worthen, William B. 2003. Shakespeare and the Force of Modern Performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.   DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Zatlin, Phyllis. 2005. Theatre Translation and Film Adaptation: A Practitioner's View. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (14)

Cited by 14 other publications

Chrysanthopoulos, Thanos
2024.  Fucking Men , tsolia and mpares : translating camp talk for the Greek stage . Translation Studies ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Kazi-Tani, Lynda
2023. La place de la traduction dans l’univers du théâtre : le surtitrage en exemple. Multilinguales 20 DOI logo
Marinetti, Cristina & Enza De Francisci
2022. Introduction: translation and performance cultures. Translation Studies 15:3 ► pp. 247 ff. DOI logo
Glynn, Dominic & James Hadley
2021. Theorising (un)performability and (un)translatability. Perspectives 29:1 ► pp. 20 ff. DOI logo
Tarantini, Angela Tiziana
2021. Explorations on Rhythm. In Theatre Translation, ► pp. 87 ff. DOI logo
Tarantini, Angela Tiziana
2021. Conclusions and Further Research. In Theatre Translation, ► pp. 185 ff. DOI logo
Tarantini, Angela Tiziana
2021. Setting the Scene. In Theatre Translation, ► pp. 11 ff. DOI logo
Tarantini, Angela Tiziana & Ruben Benatti
2021. Translating discourse markers in theater. Translation and Interpreting Studies 16:1 ► pp. 80 ff. DOI logo
Giugliano, Marcello & Victòria Alsina Keith
2020. Seeing the image of one’s culture through the image of another: translating images of national identity. Meta 64:3 ► pp. 748 ff. DOI logo
Keown, Caleb
2020. Translating sectarianism: Performing identities in Northern Irish football. Translation Studies 13:2 ► pp. 216 ff. DOI logo
Desblache, Lucile
2019. In and Beyond the Material. In Music and Translation, ► pp. 301 ff. DOI logo
Wang, Bo & Yuanyi Ma
2019. The Recreation of Pock-Mark Liu and Wang Lifa in English Translations of Teahouse: A Systemic Functional Analysis of Mood Choices. In Discourses of Southeast Asia [The M.A.K. Halliday Library Functional Linguistics Series, ], ► pp. 189 ff. DOI logo
Wells, Naomi
2018. Translanguaging and Collaborative Creative Practices: Communication and Performance in an Intercultural Theatre Group. In Translanguaging as Everyday Practice [Multilingual Education, 28], ► pp. 195 ff. DOI logo
Pardo, Betlem Soler & Duncan Wheeler
2015. Translation and didactics in the language classroom: the preparation and dissemination of a dual-language critical edition of José Luis Alonso de Santos’Bajarse al moro/Going down to Morocco. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 9:1 ► pp. 30 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 7 november 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.