The imaginaries of translation: Orpheus versus Hermes

Conférence à l’Université d’Ottawa, Faculté des Arts (Pavillon Wilbrod, sale 116), 27 sept. 2016 ; dans le cadre du séminaire « Theory of Traslation » dirigé par Clara Foz (uOttawa).I would like to try a quite simple but much needed experiment by introducing new considerations concerning the theory and practice of translation. In this way, we will attempt to develop new reflections on how to compare language practices and imaginaries. In this attempt, it is crucial to take into consideration the ways in which the imagination is involved in the socio-symbolic elaboration of translation practices. I intend to take a closer look at the paratexts, the essays, the influences as well as the intertextual alliances that enrich the work and the imaginary of translators. This theoretical inspiration could eventually lead to a wide variety of analyses, methods and interpretations, which aim to create critical tools thus enhancing the development of a new concept: imaginary of translation. In order to explore the imaginaries of translator, we can synthesize the approaches of translation by means of two mythological figures: Hermes and Orpheus. The first is a metaphor of an hermeneutical translation which transposes the meaning, in other words it’s a source-oriented translation. On the other hand, we find Orpheus, a figure that fumbles around in the darkness of form: it’s a metaphor of a target-oriented translation. However, we can assume another type of translation, Apollo’s translation: it’s the mysterious way of recreation and revelation. We will explain those metaphors through four French translations of the first sonnet of Petrarch’s Canzoniere: Louis Aragon, Gérard Genot, Yves Bonnefoy and Jean-Yves Masson translations. // Cfr. Riccardo RAIMONDO, «Orphée contre Hermès : traduction, herméneutique et imaginaire (esquisses)», Meta, vol. 61 (déc. 2016)