Theatrical Translation and Film Adaptation: A Practitioner's View (review)

FALL2006 223 The Orgy (1970) [La orgía], otra obra de Buenaventura, se asemeja a la dramaturgia de Jean Genêt en su reflexión de los aspectos más extraños y grotescos de la existencia humana. Mediante situaciones que oscilan entre lo real y lo absurdo, el argumento revela los patéticos ardides de una mujer vieja quien manipula psicológicamente a un grupo de pordioseros para dar rienda a sus delirios de grandeza. La obra presenta una clara alegoría sobre la codicia, la irracionalidad y la compulsividad de relaciones basadas en la necesidad y la dependencia. En Femina Ludens (1995), idea original de Nohora Ayala, se combinan canciones y poesía con humor, parodia y juego con el fin de desarticular los mitos femeninos de amor, maternidad y fidelidad y, a la vez, desmitificar los papeles genéricos y sociales que limitan el potencial femenino. El corpus literario incluido en esta antología aborda un amplio espectro de temas en los que se representan con creatividad el comportamiento, los conflictos y las emociones de la sociedad colombiana moderna. Sin embargo, como ya se ha mencionado, la temática de las obras es de índole universal. Las diversas formas de expresión artística que aquí se manifiestan hacen de la experiencia dramática una práctica catártica que recrea, con agudo sentido del humor y de realismo, las contradicciones y los desafíos de estar vivos. María Claudia Andre Hope College Zatlin, Phyllis. Theatrical Translation and Film Adaptation: A Practitioner’s View.Topics in Translation 29. Clevendon, U.K.: Multilingual Matters, 2005: 222 p. Phyllis Zatlin’s text is an excellent resource for amateur drama translators interested in learning useful approaches and techniques regarding the mechanics of theatrical and film translation. As the preface indicates, Zatlin has been a professor of Spanish literature for forty years, with a specialization in the field of contemporary theatre. Through the years she has worked as a translator of Spanish and French into English, and several of her translations have been performed by professional and university groups. She has also directed numerous theses in translation that have subsequently been either staged or published, and since 1998 has been the general editor of Estreno Plays, a series that features translations of contemporary Spanish dramaturgy. The book is divided into eight chapters, each introducing practical methodology and theoretical approaches drawn from well-known authors and translators, such as Susan Bassnet, André Lefevere and Robert Wechsler, and from personal interviews and correspondence that Zatlin maintained with translators, directors and actors from the United States and Europe. In addition to the brief questionnaire that Zatlin used to compile practical examples for some of the chapters, the book contains a general bibliography and an index. Chapter I, “In Theatrical Translation, There is No Lack of Conflict,” focuses on the lack of resources and theoretical studies in the area of theatrical translation. Zatlin considers the 224 LATINAMERICAN THEATRE REVIEW contributions of comparative linguistics as a framework for translation theory and deals with issues of censorship and copyright. Chapter II, “Out of the Shadows: The Translators Speak for Themselves,” concerns the translator’s authorial voice and the extent to which theatrical translations need to be adapted for a specific audience in order to be successful. For example, quoting Phillip Bohem, Zatlin recommends, “All translations are adapted to an audience during performance. The more attuned the translator is to a given production, the more finely focused the translation will be to begin with. This gives a chance for rehearsals to start from a more advanced position which allows time for more rehearsing and less revising” (30). This chapter also stresses the need for a translator to be available during production and, if possible, to become involved during rehearsals. In chapter III, “Networking: Collaborative Ventures,” Zatlin discusses the importance of having an agent or contacts with directors, actors, publishers, and producers in order to have one’s works staged or published and to establish a solid reputation as a theatrical translator. “PracticalApproaches to Translating Theatre” and “Variations on the Bilingual Play Text” provide practical information on writing styles, terminology, rhythm and formatting. Other topics covered in these...