Mother Courage’s Cucumbers: Text, system and refraction in a theory of literature

Abstract

In his 1982 essay, André Lefevere treats translation, criticism, editing, and history as forms of “refraction” or “rewriting.” He develops a systemic approach to literary translation which he regards as determined by such factors as “patronage,” “poetics,” and “ideology.” This interpretive framework gives a new legitimacy to the study of literary translations by illuminating their creation of canons and traditions in the receiving culture. Lefevere argues that Romantic notions of authorial originality have marginalized translation studies, especially in the English-speaking world. And so he approaches the translated text with the sort of analytical sophistication that is usually reserved for original compositions. His case study consists of the English versions of Brecht’s plays, particularly Mother Courage and Her Children.