CHAPTER 4 - Translation, Adaptation and Interpretation of Dramatic Texts

Abstract

This chapter discusses translation, adaption, and interpretation of dramatic texts. Dramatic art has so far been considered a mixed art, with the dramatic text as literature and the production as a performing art. It is possible to consider the dramatic text as literature only. Translation, adaptation, and interpretation of dramatic texts have been the subject of numerous studies. Their interdependence has been realized but never been systematized. The term translation is generally used for any communication between author and reader or spectator. It is also used for verbal communication. The term adaption is used as the transposition into stage production. The interpretation of the text through the performance would eliminate the hermeneutical divergence. Both possibilities involve interpretation: in the one case, that of what the author actually intended to communicate, and in the other, that of what the audience's communication level really is. All artistic interpretation is subject to historical change. Through the imaginary common denominator of interpretation, a play may be produced as belonging to all time.