Ein Diskurs zur Übersetzbarkeit der lyrischen Dichtung im Hinblick auf Rückerts Idee der Weltliteratur

Abstract

There are many strategies and methods for translating texts of various genres. There are also strategies that are particularly useful for the translation of scientific Texts. When it comes to the translation of literary texts however there are plenty of thoughts, strategies, and methods that are proposed and which provoke a huge disagreement in this area. There is, particularly, a disagreement with regard to the translation of lyric poetry. Many critics and translation theorists agree that in the translation of lyric poetry (and generally in translation of literature texts) one should transfer, on the one hand, the style and the creative power of the author of the source language to the target language and, on the other hand, should meet the expectations of readers of the target language. They differ however over which strategy or method should be used in order to achieve this goal. When considering the translation of literature texts, and particularly the translation of lyric poetry, the spirit of the author and all existent relationships between form and contents should be transferred in the translation, since they have a close relationship with the spirit of the source language and thought of the author. The possibility of achieving this is however somewhat dubious because of the basic structural differences between the source language and the target language; and also because of those differences that may be between the content of the two mentioned languages. The following paper is based on the explanation of Rueckert’s idea of “world literature”, which is related to his thought about the transfer of the spirit of literature of the source language and the transfer of both form and contents. The paper seeks to answers this question: regarding the differences in the relationships of form and contents between the source language, Persian, and the German language, how can the spirit and content of Hafiz' lyrics be best transferred to the target language. It examines the structural and content differences between the Persian and German Languages and it illustrates the strategies and methods Rueckert uses to transfer the spirit and content of the poems of Hafiz to the German language.