chapter 3
Poetry translation webs
3.1 Introduction: Webs, poetry, war and peace
3.1.1 Webs
This chapter’s study analyses more closely the interpersonal, intertextual and so-
cial context of the poetry translator’s action (the shaded areas in Figure 4). This
gives a strengthened foundation for later chapters, which focus on the translating
actions themselves. The title, Poetry translation webs, alludes to how poetry trans-
lation players build up ‘webs’ of interpersonal and intertextual contact that form
the basis for three orders of network proposed in Chapter 2 – but also to how the
world-wide web has transformed the publishing of translated poetry since the
mid-1990s.
More specifically, at first-order level the chapter examines the variety of recent
poetry-translation text complexes and transmission means, plus the structure of
working teams and their ‘geographic positionality’ (where players work, originate
from and feel allegiance to: Jones 2009: 303, 309–310, after Toury). At second-or-
der level, it maps the ‘career webs’ across projects that link players into expert/
professional fields, plus the images of the source culture and of translating proc-
esses received by interest networks of target readers. At third-order level, this
chapter assesses the socio-political implications of all the above.
Various types of player feature in this chapter, such as source poets and edi-
tors. The viewpoint taken, however, is ultimately that of the translator.
3.1.2 Background and context
The chapter’s data comes from a survey of Bosnian poetry translated into English
between 1992 and 2008, and of its English-language reviews. This period covers
Bosnia’s transition from independence, via violent conflict, into its present status
as a post-war, post-socialist European state. Chapter 2 (p. 18ff ) sketched Bosnia’s
socio-political background. Here, I sketch the cultural background to the study –
though the strong links between culture, and community outlined earlier mean
that culture, literature and language are also potentially political.