DON QUIXOTE
(Page 5)
FINAL THOUGHTS To conclude this discussion of translation issues
in Don Quixote, it's worth noting that the idea of translation is
in fact the starting-point for the story of Don Quixote. Near the
beginning of the novel, the narrator explains that he is simply
transmitting a "translation"
of a history, written originally in Arabic, by an historian named Cid Hamete
Benengeli. Of course this is not true -- it's part of the
humorous pretense that Don Quixote was a real knight whose
exploits were recorded for posterity -- but this
"framing" device creates an element of ambiguity about what is
real and unreal in the story that the narrator is telling. Occasionally
Cervantes even inserts comments by the "translator" to keep reminding readers that they're not
reading
the work in its supposedly original form.
While this narrative technique is
meant to be humorous, it also reflects Cervantes' awareness of the
importance of translation: the fact that it makes possible the sharing of
literary works among different groups of people. This is emphasized in the words spoken by Sanson
Carrasco in Part II,
Chapter 3, as Sanson extends "blessings to Cid Hamete Benengeli,
who wrote the story of [Don Quixote's] great deeds, and also to the man who had
[Don Quixote's] story translated from Arabic into our language, for the universal
entertainment of mankind."
Of course Cervantes, like all writers,
was well aware that creating a "perfect" translation is as
unlikely as creating a "perfect" novel. Nevertheless, translators
will continue to pursue this
elusive ideal
for the reasons eloquently explained by translator John
Rutherford:
Translation is only impossible as any worthwhile
enterprise is impossible: impossible to perform with the perfection that
we desire. What translators must do, like modern knights errant, is to
come as close as we can to the impossible goal.
-- "Translating Don Quixote":
xxxii. |
Thank you for visiting this website. If
you're interested in accessing further information about Don Quixote,
the following websites serve as a good starting-point.
The Don Quixote Portal. Comprehensive website with links to many resources dealing with
Cervantes' life and works. Much of it is in Spanish but there are
English links as well.
http://www.donquixote.com/index.html
The Cervantes Project. Another
comprehensive website with many links.
http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/cervantes/english/index.html
The Don Quixote Exhibit.
Displays translations and illustrations of Don Quixote from the George
Peabody Library. Also contains links to other Cervantes sites.
http://milton.mse.jhu.edu:8006
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comments to: vpoulakis@nvcc.edu
05/09/05
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