Trans(a)l(e)atory Studies or the Translator as a Performer: "Finnegans Wake" by James Joyce in Polish Translation

Abstract

Following the interdisciplinary approach, the article presents the translator’s role from the point of view musical terminology, which becomes appropriated for the sake of translation studies. As a result, the study applies the musical term aleatory music denoting an indeterminate type of musical notation which allows considerable freedom in the interpretation of a musical score. From this perspective, the translator, confronted with the inevitable interpretative gaps and indeterminacies in the source text, is compared to a musical performer who interprets the indeterminate aleatory notation. This approach is defined as trans(a)l(e)atory studies which consist in the analysis of multiple interpretative possibilities of target text versions based on one source text. The prominent example of the performative aspect of the translation process defined in this way is Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, the Polish translation of which (Finneganów Tren by rendered by Krzysztof Bartnicki) is analysed. The comparative study focuses on indeterminate aspects of language such as puns, neologisms (including portmanteau words), iconicity, blends and the superimposition of languages.