Borges And Translation: The Irreverence Of The Periphery

267 Pages·2004·1.276 MB·English

by  Sergio Waisman

Borges and Translation
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TheBucknellStudiesinLatinAmericanLiteratureand Theory
Series Editor:An´ıbalGonza´lez,PennsylvaniaStateUniversity
Dealingwithfar-reachingquestionsofhistoryandmodernity,languageand
selfhood,andpowerandethics,LatinAmericanliteratureshedslightonthemany-
faceted nature of Latin American life, as well as on the human condition as a
whole. This series of books provides a forum for some of the best criticism on
LatinAmericanliteratureinawiderangeofcriticalapproaches,withanemphasis
on works that productively combine scholarship with theory. Acknowledging the
historical links and cultural affinities between Latin American and Iberian litera-
tures,theserieswelcomesconsiderationofSpanishandPortuguesetextsandtop-
ics,whilealsoprovidingaspaceofconvergenceforscholarsworkinginRomance
studies,comparativeliterature,culturalstudies,andliterarytheory.
TitlesinSeries
MarioSantana,ForeignersintheHomeland:TheLatinAmericanNewNovelin
Spain,1962–1974
RonaldJ.Friis,Jose´ EmilioPachecoandthePoetsoftheShadows
RobertT.Conn,ThePoliticsofPhilology:AlfonsoReyesandtheInventionofthe
LatinAmericanLiteraryTradition
AndrewBush,TheRoutesofModernity:SpanishAmericanPoetryfromtheEarly
EighteenthtotheMid-NineteenthCentury
SantaAriasandMariselleMele´ndez,MappingColonialSpanishAmerica:Places
andCommonplacesofIdentity,Culture,andExperience
AliceA.Nelson,PoliticalBodies:Gender,History,andtheStruggleforNarrative
PowerinRecentChileanLiterature
JuliaKushigian,ReconstructingChildhood:StrategiesofReadingforCultureand
GenderintheSpanishAmericanBildungsroman
SilviaN.Rosman,BeinginCommon:Nation,Subject,andCommunityinLatin
AmericanLiteratureandCulture
PatrickDove,TheCatastropheofModernity:TragedyandtheNationinLatin
AmericanLiterature
JamesJ.Pancrazio,TheLogicofFetishism:AlejoCarpentierandtheCuban
Tradition
FrederickLuciani,LiterarySelf-FashioninginSorJuanaIne´sdelaCruz
SergioWaisman,BorgesandTranslation:TheIrreverenceofthePeriphery
StuartDay,StagingPoliticsinMexico:TheRoadtoNeoliberalism
AmyNaussMillay,Voicesfromthefuenteviva:TheEffectofOralityinTwentieth-
CenturySpanishAmericanNarrative
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Borges and Translation
The Irreverence of the Periphery
Sergio Waisman
Lewisburg
Bucknell University Press
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(cid:1)2005bySergioWaisman
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ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstherequirementsoftheAmerican
NationalStandardforPermanenceofPaperforPrintedLibraryMaterials
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Waisman,SergioGabriel.
Borgesandtranslation:theirreverenceoftheperiphery/SergioWaisman.
p. cm.—(BucknellstudiesinLatinAmericanliteratureandtheory)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8387-5592-5(alk.paper)
1. Borges,JorgeLuis,1899—Contributionsintranslatingandinterpreting.
2. Translatingandinterpreting—Argentina—History—20thcentury. I. Title.
II. Series.
PQ7797.B635Z949 2005
868(cid:1).6209—dc22 2004011310
printedintheunitedstatesofamerica
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Contents
Acknowledgments 7
Introduction 11
1. Argentina and Translation: Delineating a Cultural
Context 19
2. Borges on Translation: The Development of a Theory 41
3. Writing as Translation 84
4. The Aesthetics of Irreverence: Mistranslating From the
Margins 124
5. Borges Reads Joyce: A Meeting at the Limits of
Translation 157
Conclusions 202
Epilogue: Reading Argentina, Translating Piglia 207
Notes 219
Bibliography 248
Index 260
5
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Acknowledgments
I
WOULDLIKETOTHANKMYPROFESSORS,COLLEAGUES,FRIENDS,AND
family without whose invaluable support this book would not have
been possible. To Francine Masiello and Gwen Kirkpatrick, for
their wisdom and guidance, their unequivocal support of the value
of translation, their generosity, and serving as role models through
the examples they set as thinkers and teachers. To Tulio Halper´ın
Donghi, for everything he taught me about Argentine history. To
my other professors at Berkeley—especially Emilie Bergmann,
Anthony Cascardi, and Dru Dougherty—who challenged and en-
couraged me during my years as a graduate student. To Daniel
Balderston, for everything having to do with Borges and his sup-
port of this project from beginning to end. A warm thanks to the
Tuesday night Finnegans Wake group in Berkeley, especially John
Bishop, Dan Schiff, and Karen Callaway. And I want to acknowl-
edgeRicardoPigliafor theprivilege ofbeingoneofhistranslators,
and our conversations about literature and translation.
ToKathleenKishandGustavoSegade,forhelpingmakemytime
atSanDiegoStateUniversitypropitiousforworkingontranslation,
and giving me the opportunity to teach translation courses.
Anearlierversionofchapter5appearedas‘‘BorgesReadsJoyce:
The Role of Translation in the Creation of Texts,’’ Variaciones
Borges 9 (2000); and an earlier version of the epilogue appeared as
‘‘EthicsandAesthetics NorthandSouth:Translationin theWorkof
Ricardo Piglia,’’ MLQ (Modern Language Quarterly) 62.3 (Sep-
tember 2001).
Thank you to Marta and Eduardo who gave me, among many
other things, two distinct languages and cultures. And to Maureen
and Emma, who make it all worthwhile.
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Borges and Translation
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