Translation: Changing the Code. Soyinka's Ironic Aetiology

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the way in which the three concentric circles can be translated, the way in which a translation can be used to further change in cultural and literary terms, and the way in which the repertory of literary procedures can be called upon to translate an author's intentions into a work of literature. Translation allows both the writer to exercise creative genius and the theorist to make statements that are scientifically testable to a high degree. There are various possible strategies for translating the source text of a complex play. A step beyond this is the attempt to translate not only the linguistic circle but also the cultural circle and the circle of literary procedures. This strategy seems currently in the ascendant, and it probably comes closer to the ideal of an acceptable translation, the kind of translation that supplies its readers with the most numerous and soundest possible materials for the reception of the source text. The chapter also discusses paradigmatic elements for Soyinka in Euripides Bacchae. Euripides Bacchae were written against the background of the last years of Peloponnesian War, which put an end to the colonial expansion of Athens. Soyinka's Bacchae are written against a background of postcolonial wars.