Poetry Translating as Expert Action
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Draft 1 Draft 2 Draft 3
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Fleur
Geoff
Hugo
Irene
Francis
Figure 29. Toen wij: time per draft and translator
5.3.2.2 Processes and priorities from draft to draft
In Draft 1, translators’ actions were broadly similar. All first read through the
source poem to identify rhythm and/or key problems; some logged these in writ-
ten notes. All then hand-wrote what they called a “semantic” or “literal” version.
With four translators (Fleur, Hugo, Irene and I), this incorporated alternative so-
lutions plus notes: see Figure 30. Geoff, however, produced a largely pure-line
Version 1, with few alternative solutions or notes.
Finally, referring to the source poem and Version 1, four translators
(Fleur, Geoff, Hugo and Irene) hand-wrote a second, largely pure-line version: see
Figure 31. I, however, did not, thus reducing my Draft 1 working time.