Reproducing producers: Kundera, Stravinsky and the orchestration of translation

Abstract

The traditional view that draws a sharp distinction between “producers” (authors) and “reproducers” (translators), though problematized in postmodern scholarship, is still prevalent in the discourse about translation by professionals and laypeople alike. In this article I examine this binary primarily through a critique of novelist Milan Kundera's and composer Igor Stravinsky's interwoven views related to musical performance and translation. While promoting innovation for their original productions, they hold fast to traditional, essentialist notions when discussing the role of those who reproduce their work. After establishing how their practices undermine their own views, I propose that we reflect on translation as a form of orchestration – that is, a complete reworking of a text for a different set of instruments, a different language. By thinking along these lines, we can develop a more realistic notion of translation and create a new language with which to discuss it.