Translation and Music

A partir de un verso de Joaquín Sabina, "Dile que le he escrito un blues", pero también de la interdisciplinariedad de George Steiner, de la crítica musical y literaria de Edward Said o de las concepciones antagónicas sobre la interpretación de Stravinsky o Borges, este libro aborda la traducción entendiéndola en su sentido más amplio: como una actividad heterotópica, a caballo entre espacios y tiempos epistemológicos diversos; una actividad que atraviesa, no sólo todas las artes contemporáneas, desde la música y la pintura o la danza hasta la literatura, sino también cada momento de nuestra vida, desde el nacimiento hasta el ocaso.
Traducir es dejarse seducir por las palabras, y también seducir a las palabras. Lo realmente difícil de traducir no es averiguar lo que el texto dice sino lo que no dice explícitamente, a través de sus ruidos y melodías. La música y la traducción son formas de comunicación, y lo que comunican es información pero también emociones. Ese es el objetivo de este libro. Reflexionar sobre la sabiduría que se torna audible al oído que piensa. El conocimiento hecho música. La cuestión de cómo piensa el oído, de qué pensamos al escuchar o de cómo y qué escuchamos al pensar. Y es que a todos, pero especialmente a los traductores, las palabras nos abren los ojos y nos meten en el mundo y nos animan a mirar de reojo y a cantar. Con ellas reconstruimos tristezas ajenas en lágrimas propias y reinventamos laberintos al recibir mensajes a veces indescifrables.
Sin embargo, traducir siempre es posible, aun en aquellos casos en los que las palabras nos crean y nos recrean, nos hacen creer y descreer, nos obligan a anudar incertidumbres y a acariciar lo que tal vez de otro modo, desde otra profesión, nunca nos hubiéramos atrevido a tocar.

Nonostante il rap sia oggi uno dei generi musicali più popolari, non sembra avere ancora attirato l'attenzione dei traduttologi. Benché siano molti gli studi sulla cultura hip hop da un punto di vista socio-linguistico, si nota la mancanza di una discussione metodologica sulla traduzione del testo musicale rap. Eppure, così come la canzone cantata, anche la canzone rap può essere inclusa in un progetto di traduzione in diverse occasioni: dai contesti audiovisivi (doppiaggio e sottotitolaggio) a quelli letterari (biografie di artisti, monografie, raccolte di testi con commento e traduzione).
Questo progetto è da considerarsi un tentativo di riassumere e illustrare in un unico spazio – pur limitato – i molteplici aspetti teorici e metodologici emersi durante lo studio comparativo delle teorie della traduzione poetica e musicale e nell'analisi di alcuni esempi concreti di traduzione musicale rap.
Come parte conclusiva, a corredo dei vari spunti teorici offerti, viene proposta la traduzione della canzone Bodhisattva Vow dei Beastie Boys, gruppo musicale statunitense attivo nella scena hip hop dal 1983 al 2014. In tutte le fasi di analisi dei testi di partenza e di arrivo è stato adottato un approccio tanto stilistico quanto traduttologico.

Despite being a very popular music genre, Hip Hop does not seem to have drawn Translation scholars' attention. There are many studies on Hip Hop culture from a socio-linguistic point of view, but a theoretical debate about the translation of rap lyrics seems missing, even though rap songs, just like sung songs, can be included in a translation project in a number of circumstances, from audiovisual (i.e. dubbing and subtitling) to literary contexts (such as biographies, textbooks etc.). This paper attempts to show – in a limited space – the theoretical and methodological aspects which emerged during the comparative study of poetry and song translation theories, and the analysis of some real examples of rap lyrics translation from English into Italian.

Song translation has only recently become an area of interest for research purposes, with the development of studies on opera, films, folk music, cover songs, and more. Not many scholars have researched stage musicals, even though songs play a fundamental role in this type of performance, conveying meaning via verbal, audio and visual semiotic resources.
A few studies on song translation can be identified, such as Low’s (2003; 2005) Pentathlon Approach and Franzon’s (2005) functional approach. These models of transla- tion offer valuable guidelines on how to treat the lyrics, but what is missing is a systematic and multimodal model of analysis that can be applied to the song in its entirety. Kaindl (2005; 2013) takes into consideration the multimodality of songs, but only focuses on popular music and opera. Acknowledging the lack of substantial research on the interaction between modes, which is typical of stage musicals, this paper focuses on the development of a model of analysis that considers the semiotic complexity of songs. A new approach based on themes will allow for a more holistic view of the song and of its content.

Con il presente contributo s’intende rendere conto delle potenzialità della canzone in generale – e di quella tradotta in particolare – sia per l’insegnamento della lingua tedesca, sia per la didattica della traduzione nella coppia di lingue italiano-tedesco.
Partendo da una riflessione complessiva sull’utilizzo del testo canoro nell’insegnamento delle lingue – e specificatamente nella didattica DaF (Deutsch als Fremdsprache – tedesco lingua straniera) – quale risorsa in termini di motivazione, stimolo alla comunicazione spontanea e alla riflessione su aspetti linguistici e (socio)culturali, si passa a considerare la canzone come prodotto di una cultura che può essere accolto in altri contesti linguisticamente distanti attraverso operazioni di traduzione, adattamento o riscrittura. A livello esemplificativo, vengono presentate tre versioni tedesche di canzoni italiane che possono essere utilmente impiegate in un corso di Lingua tedesca e Traduzione a livello universitario.

Both language and music are highly ordered systems of communicative expression. Even so, language is by no means merely a structure for encoding, transmitting, and decoding information, and music is much more than a framework for the inscribing, performing , and hearing of sound and rhythm. Through acts of seemingly unbounded artistic creativity, language and music separately stimulate flights of human imagination as few other influences can. Then when combined together in song, language and music uniquely plumb the depths of the soul. It is little wonder that Scripture repeatedly urges God's people to "Sing to the LORD a new song" (Ps 96:1-2, 98:1, 149:1; Isa 42:10). This study examines songwriting from a fresh perspective, that of writing songs in the composer’s second language (in this case, Chinese) without reference to a pre-existing first language edition.

Media & Communications & Music at Kingston University

Present

BTS (방탄소년단)
A Global Interdisciplinary Conference Project

Kingston University, Penryn Road, London, 4-5 January 2020

Call for Papers

Keynote Speaker: Professor LEE Jiyoung
Sejong University
Author of BTS, Art Revolution

Korean boy group BTS are the first ever Korean act to perform at Wembley Stadium as part of their Love Yourself: Speak Yourself world tour. Debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment, BTS initially struggled to gain recognition in Korea as they didn’t come from one of the big three Korean entertainment companies. However, the last few years have seen BTS become the most internationally successful Korean act of all time, amassing not only domestic awards but prestigious US awards including The Best Duo/Group at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. Their recent sold-out concerts at Wembley clearly delineate BTS as a dominant force in global music and within popular culture.  This inclusive inter- and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to examine the success and popularity of BTS from a variety of academic, practice, and fan-based perspectives.

This ethos of this conference is to bring together academics, fans and practitioners in a supportive and inclusive space to talk, debate and to share ideas about BTS. This is a hierarchy-free space in which everyone’s views are valued equally. Issues may relate to mu8sic, visual art, performance art, culture, fashion and so on. We hope this is a truly interdisciplinary event. It is anticipated that there will be a fan and/or student strand in addition to an exhibition of fan work with a prize for the best entry.

Submissions are welcomed across a range of topics including, but not limited to:

Translation and Glocalization including fan translation practices
World-building and the BTS’ Universe
Tradition and Modernity in BTS’s art
Fan fiction, fan art and fan practices
Fandom, girl’s culture and cultural value
Hallyu, Web 2.0 and online fandom
Diversity and inclusivity
Participatory culture and fandom
Fandom wars and internal conflict between old and new fans
Blackness and BTS
Desire and agency
UNICEF and the #LoveYourself and #SpeakYourself campaigns
‘Soft’ Masculinity and emotionality
Intersectional practices and identities: gender, sexuality, race, age, dis/ability, interculturality
Frameworks of interpretations: personal, psychological, cultural materialist, philosophical, feminist etc.
Personal narratives of belonging
Mental Health awareness
BTS, Hip-Hop and Hybridity
Music Videos: Aesthetics and Attributes
Multimedia musical performance
KPOP and BTS (is BTS KPOP?)
Marketing, Branding, Tourism

 

We welcome proposals for traditional 20-minute presentations together with poster presentations, creative projects, exhibits, roundtables, and workshops on any aspect of BTS. If this is your first time at an academic conference, please be assured that you will be on a panel  that is appropriate with an experienced chair. If you wish to submit fan-based work for consideration for the prize, details will be supplied on request.     

Submission Guidelines

• Proposal for an academic paper presentation or poster presentation: title, abstract (up to 250 words) plus short biography (150 words)
• Proposal for a panel (up to 4 presenters): title, description of panel (400 words), abstract of each individual paper (maximum of 4) and short biography of each panelist (150 words)     
• Proposal for a workshop, discussion or roundtable: title, description of panel (400 words), and short biography of each participant (150 words)
• Proposal for a creative panel: title, description of panel (400 words), and short biography of each participant (150 words)

The conference committee welcomes your participation and questions.

Conference Committee:
Dr. Colette Balmain (chair), Kingston University
Dr. Helen Julia Minors, Kingston University
Dr. Morimoto, Independent Scholar
Eugene Kim, Kingston University
Mehneer Dhillon, Kingston University


Please send submissions as word attachments to an email to:

Colette Balmain, c.balmain@kingston.ac.uk with BTS Conference 2020 as the title.   

Deadline: 16th August 2019

Notification of decision: 31st August 2019


Publication

Selected peer reviewed papers from the conference will go forward to an edited book entitled: BTS: Intersectional Practice, Globalization and Performance Art, edited by Drs. Colette Balmain, Helen Julia Minors and Lori Morimoto.

Please indicate in your conference proposal submission whether you would like your abstract also as part of the book proposal.

Papers will be between 6,000 – 8,000 words inclusive of references. Please use Chicago style guides. Endnotes, and not footnotes, are requested. 150 word biographies are required. Chapters are allowed no more than one black and white illustration and authors are responsible for confirming copyright permissions are gained prior to the chapter deadline. The inclusion of web links in the text is encouraged. The publication will use UK English.

Deadline: 20th March 2020

This paper aims to discuss the way in which song translation can be used as an effective way of language/translation teaching, focusing in particular on German as a Foreign Language in higher education at the university level. Starting from some considerations about the distinctive features of song lyrics and the use of them as a didactic tool in foreign language, culture and literature classes, a reflection is proposed on a way to introduce pop songs also in language/translation classes in relation to a variety of possible translation skopoi.

This article deals with the language used in the context of a specific type of Finnish popular song called “iskelmä” in Finnish. Using a sample of 30 popular songs that includes lyrics originally written in Finnish as well as lyrics translated into Finnish, both from the 1930s and the 1950s, we test our working hypothesis according to which the vocabularies used in the Finnish and translated popular song lyrics begin to resemble each other in the 1950s. The hypothesis is examined in terms of the history of the Finnish popular song and, especially, in terms of the Finnish wartime (1939-1945) which is dealt with as a social factor that possibly explains the “standardisation” of Finnish popular song lyrics. The theoretical framework employed in this pilot study makes use of the concept of norms in the context of translation, as well as of the idea that in the translation of popular song lyrics, keywords and themes are more important than the actual narrative or story of the song.

TRADUÇÃO & MÚSICA: Variações
TRANSLATION & MUSIC: variations
CHAMADA PARA ARTIGOS
Call for papers
Tradução em Revista 27 (2020)
Prazo para a submissão de artigos (entre 3.000 e 6.000 palavras): 15 de maio de 2020.
Deadline submission (3,000–6,000 words):  May 15,  2020.

In this article the authors describe a joint performance project called Pianure Blues, in which poems in Romagnolo dialect are transposed into English and performed as blues songs, and in which songs from the Anglo-American blues/roots/folk tradition are transposed and performed as poems in Romagnolo dialect – a process they have called 'trans-staging'. A process in which they are writers and performers and, especially, translators; translators of each other's voices, stories, landscapes, rhythms and sounds as they look for the bond between places, languages and traditions that seem very distant from each other but which find a common mood and poetic language, a common aesthetic, in their performances. The authors reflect on the creative process involved and on the significance of establishing an intersemiotic dialogue between a 'minority' dialect such as Romagnolo and a 'global' language such as English, and the blues, have become.