Date:
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February 24, 2000 |
Location:
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The Unitarian Center |
Length:
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Tape Quality:
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good |
Collection:
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Ethnicity:
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Language:
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English |
Use Policy:
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available |
Content:
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Anne Carson opens her four-part presentation by defining literary translation as "the process of thinking about thinking . . . the active region between languages as the position before zero'"---the space maintained between two languages throughout a translation. In describing both the conventions of Tragedy and the obstacles of translating pain, she then reads and discusses her own translation of Sophocles' Elektra, and the specific problem of translating Elektraßs onomatopoetic screams. In the second part of her presentation, Carson reads her 'translation' of writings by Anna Akhmatova into an inventive 'made-for-television' treatment of the life of the Russian poet. The third part of Carson's presentation centers on the concept of translating images into words. In a series interpolated with excerpts from St. Augustine's Confessions, she reads her poetic responses to the paintings of Edward Hopper against slides of his paintings "Night Hawks," "The Automat," "Room in Brooklyn," "The Barber Shop," "Office at Night," "Western Motel," "Summer Interior," "11 AM," and "Evening Wind." In a return to the theme of the "Place Before Zero," Carson concludes the evening with an essay-like poem inspired by the work of artist Betty Goodwin. Steve Dickison introduces Carson.
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