Richard Bjornson, Donald Frame, Rainer Schulte, and Joan Hinde Stewart discuss the status and importance of literary translation for both popular and academic audiences, and issues surrounding English translation of foreign works. They debate whether translators are artists (creators) or artisans (mechanics) and talk about the balancing of accuracy, meaning, and the author’s intent. In the second segment[17:15], Inez Hedges joins the conversation as they discuss challenges facing translators, such as humor, the popularity of the work, and the quality of the text.
At the time of this recording, Bjornson, a Fellow at the National Humanities Center (1982-83), was professor of comparative literature at Ohio State University. Frame, a Fellow at the Center (1982-83), was professor of French at Columbia University. Hedges was professor of romance languages and comparative literature at Duke University. Schulte was director of the Center for Translation Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. Stewart, a Fellow at the Center (1982-83), was professor of French at North Carolina State University.
This edition of Soundings was conducted by Wayne J. Pond.
