Seven Types of Translation: Translation Tables

Abstract

Abstract This article and accompanying table provide an overview and catalogue of a large number of experimental translation methods that have been used by avantgarde poets. Poetic/experimental translation as defined and explored herein is a form of translation in which the aesthetic and execution of the translator is as important as that of the perceived intention of the original writer. The article’s seven-section table gives a definition of each method, and gives examples and expositions of a range of particular poets' work. The table of translation methods recognizes and explores the fact that of all forms of writing, poetry concerns itself with the ‘how it is said’ more than any other. The table outlines many different methods of translation, looking at how meaning, rhyme, sound, form, constraint, or style can be translated by the experimental writer when translating one or more source texts. These individual, intellectual, and aesthetic choices made by a wide range of poets are collated and detailed in seven discrete-yet-overlapping areas.