Problems in Translation with Reference to Dantons Tod

Abstract

The three extant plays of Georg Biichner were first translated into English by Geoffrey Dunlop in 1927.1 In the same year Max Reinhardt included in his American repertory Biichner's prose drama, Dantons Tod. Perhaps it was in response to the interest in Biichner, which Reinhardt's presentation had aroused in the American public and for which it had been prepared by its native expressionistic drama in the twenties, that Dunlop's English translation was reissued in 1928 by an American publisher.2 American reviewers were unanimous in their praise of Dunlop's spirited translation. It has, however, never been subjected to a critical examination.