Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

“Out of the Marvellous” as I Have Known It: Translating Heaney’s Poetry

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Palgrave Handbook of Literary Translation

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting ((PTTI))

  • 1271 Accesses

Abstract

In this study Sonzogni sheds light on three questions: (1) does it matter if the author to be translated is alive? (2) does it matter if the translator knows the author? (3) does it matter if the translator is familiar with the author’s “place of writing”? If the logical answer to each question were affirmative, would a triple “yes” to this set of hypotheses describe the ideal “place of translating”? Moving from Heaney’s own place of writing—“as much a geographical and historical place as a psychological and transcendent one”; “a zone of fortitude and fairness, of consciousness and conscience” (Hart)—the study returns to Sonzogni’s own place of translating his poetry, reliving the miracle as he has known it: a responsible and rewarding collaboration.

in memoriam Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) and Mario Sonzogni (1930–2016).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 229.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Anonymous (2013) ‘Heaney, The Most Important Irish Poet since Yeats’, Irish Times (30 August) (http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/obituary-heaney-the-most-important-irish-poet-since-yeats-1.1510684) [accessed 17/01/17].

  • Asad, T. (1986) ‘The Concept of Cultural Translation in British Social Anthropology’, in J. Clifford and G. E. Marcus (eds) Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, Berkeley and Los Angeles: The University of California Press, pp. 141–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avirovic, L. and J. Dodds (eds) (1993) Umberto Eco, Claudio Magris. Autori e traduttori a confronto (Umberto Eco, Claudio Magris. Authors and Translators in Dialogue), Udine: Campanotto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballard, M. (1990) La traduction plurielle (The Diversity of Translation), Lille: Presses universitaires de Lille.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bassnett, S. and A. Lefevere (eds) (1990) Translation, History, and Culture, London: Pinter Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berman, A. (1984) L’épreuve de l’étranger. Culture et traduction dans l’Allemagne romantique (The Experience of the Foreign: Culture and Translation in Romantic Germany), Paris: Gallimard.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berman, A. (1999) La traduction et la letter, ou l’Auberge du lointain (Translation and the Letter, or The Hostel from Far Away), Paris: Seuil.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blakesley, J. (2014) Modern Italian Poets: Translators of the Impossible, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boase-Beier, J. and M. Holman (eds) (1998) The Practices of Literary Translation: Constraints and Creativity, Manchester: St Jerome.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. and J.-C. Passeron (1990) Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, tr. R. Nice. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandes, R. and M. J. Durkan (1996) Seamus Heaney: A Reference Guide, New York: G.K. Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brandes, R. and M. J. Durkan (2008) Seamus Heaney: A Bibliography 1959–2003, London: Faber and Faber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brisset, A. (1998) ‘L’identité culturelle de la traduction. En réponse à Antoine Berman’ (The Cultural Identity of Translation. In response to Antoine Berman), Palimpsestes 11: 31–51.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M. (2013) ‘New Seamus Heaney Poem Published’, The Guardian (25 October): (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/25/seamus-heaney-last-poem-published) [accessed 17/01/17].

  • Bryman, A. and R.G. Burgess (1999) Qualitative Research, London: Sage.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Buffoni, F. (1989) La traduzione del testo poetico (On Translating the Poetic Text), Milano: Guerini.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buffoni, F. (2007) Con il testo a fronte. Indagine sul tradurre e l’essere tradotti (Parallel Texts. An Investigation into Translating and Being Translated), Novara: Interlinea.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calzada Pérez, M. (ed.) (2003) Apropos of Ideology. Translation Studies on Ideology—Ideology on Translation Studies, Manchester: St Jerome Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassell, C. and G. Symon (eds) (1994) Qualitative Methods in Organizational Research: A Practical Guide, London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Catalano, G. and F. Scotto (eds) (2001) La nascita del concetto moderno di traduzione. Le nazioni europee fra enciclopedismo e epoca romantica (The Origin of the Modern Concept of Translation. European Nations between Encyclopaedism and Romanticism), Roma: Armando Editore.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavanagh, M. (2009) Professing Poetry: Seamus Heaney’s Poetics, Washington, D.C.: Catholic University Press of America.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chesterman, A. (1997) Memes of Translation: The Spread of Ideas in Translation Theory, Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chesterman, A. (2001) ‘Proposal for a Hieronymic Oath’, The Translator 7 (2): 139–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook, T. D. and D. T. Campbell (1979) Quasi Experimentation: Design and Analysis Issues for Field Settings, Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Creswell, J. W. (1998) Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Traditions, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dennison, J. (2015) Seamus Heaney and the Adequacy of Poetry, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Denzin, N. K. and L. S. Lincoln (eds) (2000) Handbook of Qualitative Research, London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eco, U. (2003) Dire quasi la stessa cosa. Esperienze di traduzione (Mouse or Rat? Translation as Negotiation), Milano: Bompiani.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardini, N. (2016) Viva il latino. Storie e bellezze di una lingua inutile (Long Live Latin. Stories and Beauties of a Useless Language), Milano: Garzanti.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, B. G. and A. L. Strauss (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research, Chicago: Aldine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gramigna, V. (ed.) (2007) Tradurre: Voci dagli “altri” (Translating: Voices of the “Others”), Bari: Edizioni B.A. Graphics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gummesson, E. (1988) Qualitative Methods in Management Research, Lund: Studentlitteratur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flick, U. (1998) An Introduction to Qualitative Research, London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, J. and A. Crowder (eds) (2007) Seamus Heaney. Poet, Critic, Translator, London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardwick, L. (2000) Translating Words, Translating Cultures, London: Duckworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, S. (ed.) (2019) Seamus Heaney and the Classics, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, H. (1990) ‘Seamus Heaney’s Place of Writing’, Contemporary Literature 31 (3): 383–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, S. (1962) ‘Tractors’, Belfast Telegraph (24 November) (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/how-belfast-telegraph-gave-seamus-heaney-an-early-break-29546167.html) [accessed 17/01/17].

  • Heaney, S. (1975) Stations, Belfast: Ulsterman Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, S. (1979) Field Work, London: Faber and Faber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, S. (1989) The Place of Writing, Atlanta, Georgia: Scholars Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, S. (1991a) Seeing Things, London: Faber and Faber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, S. (1991b) Death of a Naturalist, London: Faber and Faber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, S. (1995) Crediting Poetry, Loughcrew: The Gallery Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, S. (1996) The Spirit Level, London: Faber and Faber.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, S. (2012) The American Ireland Fund AWB Vincent Literary Award Acceptance Speech (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdTQPZGW0Bs) [accessed 17/01/17].

  • Heaney, S. (2013a) Email to M. Sonzogni (19 June).

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney, S. (2013b) ‘In Time’, The New Yorker (22 December) http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/12/23/in-time-3 [accessed 17/01/17]

  • Heaney, S. and R. Hass (2000) Sounding Lines: The Art of Translating Poetry, Berkeley and Los Angeles: The Regents of the University of California and the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heaney. S. and J. Snow (1999) ‘I Can’t Keep Writing Elegies’ (C4News) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dGrdTONFj0) [accessed 17/01/17].

  • Higgins, G. (ed.) (2017) Seamus Heaney in Context, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holmes, J. S. (1988) Translated! Papers on Literary Translation and Translation Studies, Amsterdam: Rodopi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, F. R. (2011) Poetry Translating as Expert Action, Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kearney, R. (2006) ‘Introduction: Ricoeur’s Philosophy of Translation’, in P. Ricoeur, On Translation, tr. E. Breenan, London and New York: Routledge, pp. vii–xx.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keeley, E. (1989) ‘Collaboration, Revision, and Other Less Forgivable Sins in Translation’, in J. Biguenet and R. Schulte (eds) The Craft of Translation, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 54–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koller, W. (1980) ‘Oversettelsen og dens formyndere’ (Translation and its Pillars), Basar 2: 47–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lefevere, A. (1992) Translation, Rewriting and the Manipulation of Literary Fame, London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levý, J. (1965) ‘Will Translation Theory be of Use to Translators?’, in R. Italiaander (ed.) Übersetzen (Translation), Frankfurt: Athenäum, pp. 77–82.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, C. and G. B. Rossman (1999) Designing Qualitative Research, London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mattioli, E. (1994) Contributi alla teoria della traduzione letteraria (Contributions to Literary Translation Theory), Palermo: Aesthetica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mattioli, E. (2009) L’etica del tradurre e altri scritti (The Ethics of Translation and Other Writings), Modena: Mucchi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, C. B. (2001) ‘A Case in Case Study Methodology’, Field Methods 13 (4) (November): 329–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miles, M. B. and A. M. Huberman (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis, London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minetto, P. (1997) ‘La traduzione come viaggio di andata e ritorno’ (Translation as a Return Journey), Rassegna italiana di linguistica applicata, 3: 75–95.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morini, M. (2007) La traduzione. Teorie strumenti practiche (Translation. Theories Works Practices), Milano: Sironi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nachmias, C. and D. Nachmias (1981) Research Methods in the Social Sciences, London: Edward Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nergaard, S. (1993) La teoria della traduzione nella storia (Translation Theory in History), Milano: Bompiani.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton, G.P. (1984) The Ideology and Language of Translation in Renaissance France and Their Humanist Antecedents, Geneva: Droz.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien, E. (1998) ‘The Place of writing: Place, Poetry, Politics in the Writing of Seamus Heaney’, Hermathena 161: 53–67.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Donoghue, B. (1995) ‘Language and the Transcendent in Modern Irish Poetry’, The Way (Supplement 81): 35–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Driscoll, D. (ed.) (2008) Stepping Stones: Interviews with Seamus Heaney, London: Faber and Faber.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Oxford English Dictionary (2017) (http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/66520?rskey=LPLv7Z&result=1#eid) [accessed 17/01/17].

  • Patierno, A. (2004) Poesia e traduzione: problemi teorici e analisi testuali (Poetry and Translation: Theoretical Issues and Textual Analysis), Napoli: Unisob.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pierini, P. (ed.) (1999) L’atto del tradurre: Aspetti teorici e pratici della traduzione (The Act of Translation: Theoretical and Practical Issues), Roma: Bulzoni.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Poetry Foundation (2017) (https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/seamus-heaney) [accessed 17/01/17].

  • Pym, A. (1992) Translation and Text Transfer: An Essay on the Principles of Intercultural Communication, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Qvale, P. (2004) From St Jerome to Hypertext: Translation in Theory and Practice, Manchester: St Jerome Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rabassa, G. (1989) ‘No Two Snowflakes are Alike: Translation as Metaphor’, in J. Biguenet and R. Schulte (eds) The Craft of Translation, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raffel, B. (1989) ‘Translating Medieval Poetry’, in J. Biguenet and R. Schulte (eds) The Craft of Translation, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 28–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricoeur, P. (2006) On Translation, tr. E. Brennan, London and New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, D. (1991) The Translator’s Turn. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, D. (1997) What is Translation? Centrifugal Theories, Critical Interventions, Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossman, G. B. and S. F. Rallis (1998) Learning in the Field: An Introduction to Qualitative Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scelfo, M.G. (2002) Le questioni del tradurre: comunicazione, comprensione, adeguatezza traduttiva e ruolo del genere testuale (The Challenges of Translation: Communication, Comprehension, Adequacy and the Impact of Textual Typology), Roma: Edizioni Associate Editrice Internazionale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schleiermacher, F. (1977) ‘On the Different Methods of Translating’, tr. A. Lefevere, in A. Lefevere (ed.) Translating Literature: The German Tradition from Luther to Rosenzweig, Assen: Van Gorcum, pp. 66–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silvestri, D. (1996) Analisi linguistica della poesia e fenomenologia della traduzione poetica (Lingustic Analysis of Poetry and Phenomenology of Poetry Translation), Napoli: L’arte tipografica.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, T. and M. Sonzogni (eds) (2019) Raids and Settlements: Heaney as Translator, Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonzogni, M. (ed. and tr.) (1996) Sia dato credito alla poesia (Crediting Poetry), Milano: Archinto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonzogni, M. (2001) ‘Per una riflessione sulla traduzione poetica’ (Notes on Poetry Translation), tradurre (Translating) 2 (June): 15–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonzogni, M. (ed.) (2005) Sulla poesia (On Poetry), Milano: Archinto.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonzogni, M. (2014) Tagli (Cuts), Milano: La Vita Felice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonzogni, M. (ed. and tr.) (2016a) Seamus Heaney: Poesie (1966–2013). Scelte e raccolte dall’autore (Seamus Heaney: Poems (1966–2016). Selected and Collected by the Author), Milano: Mondadori.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonzogni, M. (tr.) (2016b) ‘October Thought’/Pensiero d’autunno, by Seamus Heaney’, Journal of Italian Translation XI (1): 195–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonzogni, M. (tr.) (2016c) ‘In a Field’/’In un campo, by Seamus Heaney’, Testo a fronte 54 (Autumn): 90–1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sonzogni, M., Iorio, G., Guzzo, L., Fo, A. (eds and trs) (in press) Il libro sesto dell’eneide (Aeneid Book VI), Rovigo: Il Ponte del Sale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stake, R. E. (1995) The Art of Case Study Research, London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • The Swedish Academy (1995) (http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1995/press.html) [accessed 17/01/17].

  • Sykes, W. (1990) ‘Validity and Reliability in Qualitative Market Research: A Review of the Literature’, Journal of the Market Research Society 32 (3): 289–328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toury, G. (1995) Descriptive Translation Studies and Beyond, Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • TRANSLaborate (2015) (https://www.westminster.ac.uk/news-and-events/events/translation-as-collaboration-translaboration-one-day-symposium) [accessed 17/01/17].

  • Venuti, L. (1998) The Scandals of Translation: Towards an Ethics of Difference, New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Venuti, L. (2011) ‘The Poet’s Version, or an Ethics of Translation’, Translation Studies 4 (2): 230–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Venuti, L. (2013) Translation Changes Everything. Theory and Practice, New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yin, R. K. (2014) Case Study Research: Design and Methods (5th edn), Thousand Oaks: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, W. (1989) ‘The Process of Translation’, in J. Biguenet and R. Schulte (eds) The Craft of Translation, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 117–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weissbort, D. (ed.) (1989) Translating Poetry: The Double Labyrinth, Iowa City: University of Iowa Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Marco Sonzogni

Authors
  1. Marco Sonzogni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marco Sonzogni .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom

    Jean Boase-Beier

  2. Independent Scholar, Norwich, United Kingdom

    Lina Fisher

  3. Department of English, Tohoku Gakuin University, Sendai, Japan

    Hiroko Furukawa

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Sonzogni, M. (2018). “Out of the Marvellous” as I Have Known It: Translating Heaney’s Poetry. In: Boase-Beier, J., Fisher, L., Furukawa, H. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Literary Translation. Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75753-7_19

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75753-7_19

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75752-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75753-7

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation