Japanese poetry translation joust

Culture
This event brought together students, researchers and artists, to promote literary translation and reflect on the issues it raises, particularly the translation of poetry, and that of languages that can be said to be "distant", such as Japanese.
The signs in a text to be translated are varied: linguistic signs (alphabet, words, phrases, sounds...), symbols, the iconic dimension of the text (particularly in the case of poems), form (verse, rhyme, for example), genre (sonnet, haiku, etc.)... We can choose to transpose these signs from one linguistic system to another, or from one semiotic system to another: from language to music, to drawing, to the stage... This half-day session provided an opportunity to reflect on translated/translating signs in a literary text, using concrete examples and a creative, playful approach. It also raised questions about the boundary between what might be called a translation and an adaptation, or even a (re)creation.

The day included a round-table discussion and an interview, with participants from different professional perspectives on literary translation. This was followed by a translation joust of a Japanese poem and a "craduction" joust, for which students proposed their creations, in the tradition of the "grosso crado" translations by Christian Prigent, Bruno Fern and Typhaine Garnier(Pages rosses: craductions, Les Impressions nouvelles, 2015 and Craductions, Lurlure, 2022): "Craduire: to voluntarily endow oneself with incompetence, to unlearn languages, to understand something other than what one should."

The event poster was designed by Gilda Nikfarjam, an AHN (Artiste de Haut Niveau) student in the Master Littérature : critique et création program.
Updated March 25, 2024