The Aesthetic Value of the Original Text as the Axis of the Translation Process: J. R. R. Tolkien's Beowulf

• García Carreño, Ariadna ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad de Almería

     Universidad de Almería

     Almería, España

     
• Localización: Epos: Revista de filología, ISSN 0213-201X, Nº 38 (Revista de filología; I-II), 2022, págs. 86-102
• Idioma: inglés
• DOI: 10.5944/epos.38.2022.31503
• Títulos paralelos:
  • El valor estético del texto original como eje del proceso de traducción: el Beowulf de J. R. R. Tolkien
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen
  • español

    Este artículo consiste en un análisis de la traducción de Beowulf realizada por Tolkien en 1926. El objetivo es explorar las modificaciones que su proceso traductológico aplica a la aliteración, los kennings y los arcaísmos, rasgos estilísticos esenciales en la poesía anglosajona. Estos cambios resultan inevitables dadas 1) las diferencias entre las convenciones poéticas anglosajonas y el habla y la literatura inglesa contemporánea, y 2) las necesidades de la audiencia meta de Tolkien, sus alumnos en Oxford. Aun así, dichos cambios persiguen el propósito principal de Tolkien, que, influido por las ideas del New Criticism y el Modernismo, pretende mantener en la traducción el valor estético de los tres rasgos estilísticos mencionados. Seguimos la perspectiva teórica de Bassnett (1998) para indicar que la definición tradicional de ‘traducción’ como ‘copia’ del original no es suficiente para calificar la traducción de Tolkien: las innovaciones aplicadas convierten la traducción en un nuevo ‘original’.

  • English

    This paper consists of an analysis of the translation of Beowulf made by Tolkien in 1926. The aim is to explore the modifications that his translation process applies to alliteration, kennings and archaisms, essential stylistic features in Anglo-Saxon poetry. These changes seem inevitable given 1) the differences between Anglo-Saxon poetic conventions and Present-Day English speech and literature, and 2) the needs of Tolkien’s target audience, his students at Oxford. Still, such changes pursue Tolkien’s main purpose, which, influenced by the ideas of New Criticism and Modernism, aims to maintain in translation the aesthetic value of the three stylistic features mentioned above. We follow Bassnett’s (1998) theoretical perspective to indicate that the traditional definition of ‘translation’ as a ‘copy’ of the original is not enough to qualify Tolkien’s translation: the innovations applied turn the translation into a new ‘original’.

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