Chapter 5. Five translators translate
5.3.5.7 Intertextuality
All translators occasionally mentioned Intertextuality, showing a working aware-
ness of relevant literary systems. On the source-culture side, for example, Fleur
and Irene linked geluk hing om ons heen (‘happiness hung around us’: Figure 25,
TU102–105) and oud vlees (‘old flesh’: p. 124, TU44) to motifs in Kouwenaar’s
wider oeuvre. Translators also used intertextual links with other receptor-culture
poems. Thus, in Draft 1, Fleur looked up and read out a line from a Geoffrey Hill
poem that she felt had affinities with Toen wij (Roses flake from the wall, the smoke
of harmless fires drifts to my eyes), and noted flake as a possible word to use in her
version. She also said that she would use English translations (of the French poet
Mallarmé, for instance) as models.5.3.5.8 Text helpers
All translators also mentioned using text helpers to help them solve textual prob-
lems. The poet’s input from the question-and-answer session was important here,
though some (especially Geoff ) made more use of this than others. Translators
also said that they would normally consult other translators, and two transcripts
recorded these interactions. In Draft 2, Fleur (a Dutch-English equilingual) twice
consulted the English-native Bruce, who was working in the same room – asking,
for example, whether Line 8’s liggend should be lying or laying. And Hugo (also an
equilingual) e-mailed the English-native Carl during Draft 2 for feedback on his
Line-1 version:
Here’s my solution:
When we decided to have a heart/When we decided to show mercy
Will an Englishman understand the ‘have a heart’ in this context?E-mail exchanges continued in Draft 3, the next day. Finally Carl e-mailed his own
version of Lines 1–3:When we took pity on our heart
you still recall its beat, how our halves
at a stroke were once more whole, ....
does that help at all?5.3.5.9 Evaluation
Evaluation micro-sequences usually showed an emotional reaction to a word,
phrase or image in the source poem or, more often, in the target version – as to-
wards the end of Fleur’s Draft 1: