“L’Internationale” and its Spanish Versions: Between Translation and Adaptation

This contribution proposes to examine the intercultural transfer of “L’Internationale”, the hymn of the socialist and communist movements, into the Spanish-speaking world. The original lyrics were written in French by Eugène Pottier in 1871 to commemorate the Paris Commune, a workers’ rebellion which took place in that same year, and were set to music in 1888 by Pierre De Geyter, a Belgian socialist composer. They were promptly translated into an impressive number of other languages. The first Spanish translation was made in 1899. It still serves as the anthem of the Partido Comunista de España and differs from two later versions, which can be considered adaptations. One version is a rewriting from a sociopolitical perspective that adjusts itself to the principles of the FAI, an anarchist movement of the 1920s–1930s in Spain and Portugal. Another was influenced by the historical and geographical setting of the Cuban revolution and is used by many Latin American leftist movements as well as by the PSOE, the Spanish socialist party. This article contextualizes and compares these three versions, drawing on the concepts of rewriting and adaptation to frame the analysis

Der ganze Aristoteles - Wissenschaft und Übersetzen

This text presents one of the largest long-term projects of the GDR publishing house Akademie Verlag Berlin - the Aristotle Complete Edition in 20 volumes, which has not yet been completed, but is now supervised and distributed by DeGruyter. The history of the origins of the publishing project and its circumstances, but above all the most important players, are presented, especially the life and work of the first editor, Ernst Grumach, a Germanist and classical philologist from Königsberg, who eked out an existence in the SS-controlled administration of looted books during the Nazi era and sought new fulfilment in academia after the war. As a professor at Berlin\u27s Humboldt University and employee of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, he initiated the project of the new Aristotle Complete Edition, not coincidentally beginning under post-war conditions with the three volumes on Aristotelian ethics. The project proves to be a truly interwoven co-operation of classical philologists in the German-speaking world. The fundament for the discussion is Mitchel Ash\u27s concept of the interaction between science and politics, where politics plays a greater role in times of upheaval than in times of ‘normal’ science.This text presents one of the largest long-term projects of the GDR publishing house Akademie Verlag Berlin - the Aristotle Complete Edition in 20 volumes, which has not yet been completed, but is now supervised and distributed by DeGruyter. The history of the origins of the publishing project and its circumstances, but above all the most important players, are presented, especially the life and work of the first editor, Ernst Grumach, a Germanist and classical philologist from Königsberg, who eked out an existence in the SS-controlled administration of looted books during the Nazi era and sought new fulfilment in academia after the war. As a professor at Berlin\u27s Humboldt University and employee of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, he initiated the project of the new Aristotle Complete Edition, not coincidentally beginning under post-war conditions with the three volumes on Aristotelian ethics. The project proves to be a truly interwoven co-operation of classical philologists in the German-speaking world. The fundament for the discussion is Mitchel Ash\u27s concept of the interaction between science and politics, where politics plays a greater role in times of upheaval than in times of ‘normal’ science

\u27You have nothing if you have no rights’: Reiterations of communal freedom through Billy Bragg’s translation of The Internationale

This study undertakes an analysis of Billy Bragg’s translation of “The Internationale” as performed in 1989 at the Vancouver Folk Festival and featured on his 1990 album with the same title. The translator’s agency is examined through an exploration of textual features, including translation strategies, alongside metatextual factors, encompassing paratextual (presentation), extratextual (intention and purpose), and contextual parameters (socio-cultural and political elements). The concept of recontextualization is substantiated through two comparisons: (1) between the original 1871/1888 version (comprising lyrics by the Frenchman Eugène Pottier and music by the Belgian Pierre De Geyter) and Bragg’s new translation over a century later, and (2) between Bragg’s translation and earlier English translations. This multifaceted analysis provides insights into Bragg’s approach to rendering “The Internationale” into English, highlighting how the translator’s agency contributes to the translation’s recontextualisation

Austausch – Ausverhandlung – Ausbildung: Die Rolle von Berufsorganisationen für die Sprachmittlung in der DDR

In diesem Artikel wird ein Überblick über die beiden größten Berufsorganisationen für Translator*innen, nämlich der Vereinigung der Sprachmittler (VdS) für Fachübersetzer*innen und Dolmetscherinnen auf der einen Seite sowie die Übersetzersektion im Deutschen Schriftstellerverband (DSV) auf der anderen Seite, hinsichtlich ihrer Geschichte, Entwicklung und Leistungen für die beteiligten Akteur*innen gegeben. Im Anschluss wird gesondert auf persönliche Erfahrungen von (literarischen) Übersetzer*innen und Dolmetscher*innen mit diesen Berufsverbänden eingegangen und davon berichtet, welche Bedeutung eine aktive Einbindung in die Verbände für sie hatte. Besondere Wichtigkeit haben hier die Schilderungen eines der beiden Autor*innen, Manfred Schmitz, der selbst jahrelang als Vorsitzender der VdS wirkte. Durch diese Darstellungen werden einerseits die Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen den Berufsorganisationen in den Fokus genommen, und andererseits wird ein Einblick in die beruflich-soziale Einbettung von (literarischen) Übersetzer*innen und Dolmetscher*innen gegeben, was wiederum einen wichtigen Beitrag zur retrospektiven Darstellung einer möglichen Translationskultur der DDR leistet

“Die Internationale”: from Protest Song to Official Anthem and Back : Aspects of the German Reception of “L’Internationale” in the Early 1900s and After 1945

The fate of the German translations of “L’Internationale” reflects some of the fates of the German left. Several translations were produced around 1900, before the Emil Luckhardt version would become canonized shortly after the First World War. When compared to a more scholarly translation–of which the very first one, by Sigmar Mehring, is a good example–, Luckhardt’s is much less faithful to the Pottier original, but still quite effective. It is also less ideologically radical, so that it was acceptable within many strands of the German left. After the establishment of two German states following the Second World War, and even after the German unification in 1990, the song became a point of dispute for the left, even if at the same it also lost much of its original message in popular culture. This article examines the possible reasons for the lasting success of Luckhardt’s translation, its shifts in relation to the source text and some of the contexts in which it has been used.

Sinister ironies: The Romanian translation of “L’Internationale” from an anthem of the oppressed to the last words of a tyrant

This article explores the cultural history around the publication of the Romanian translation of Pottier’s “L’Internationale” by C. Z. Buzdugan in 1900 in the socialist newspaper Lumea nouă, as well as the song’s subsequent contexts during the communist regime (1944–1989). Combining an etymologically and stylistically-informed comparative close-reading of Buzdugan’s translated text and Pottier’s original with an account of the coeval crisis of early Romanian socialism, I provide fresh insight into how Romania’s still ruralized, post-feudal social structures at the turn of the twentieth century influenced some omissions and insertions in this previously neglected early translation. Aside from contributing to translation history, this article also sheds light on the importance of remediation and performance in the process of shaping the meanings of a widely circulated text. Through an analysis of the chameleonic totalitarian appropriation of “L’Internationale” in the Romanian context and of its perusal in Ceaușescu’s cunning game of distancing himself from Soviet control and appeasing the West while continuing to oppress the population of his country, I reveal a dark facet of the song’s potential to animate masses. Finally, I zoom in on the dictator’s final intonation of the workers’ anthem before the execution squad as an iconic and ironic historical lesson about the power of repetition and brainwashing to hollow out the positive message of this text and reduce it to a memento of Ceaușescu’s own empty glorification. I use this example as a caveat against the treacherous powers of propaganda, which to this day threaten Romanian society

Die Lektorin und ihr Übersetzer: Ein Fallbeispiel aus der Arbeit des Leipziger Reclam-Verlags

Die Namen der DDR-Literaturübersetzer sind durchaus bekannt, etliche findet man sogar im DDR-Schriftstellerlexikon (Böttcher 1974). Anders steht es um viele jener Leute, die in den Verlagen für die Produktion der aus fremden Sprachen ins Deutsche gebrachten Bücher zuständig waren: die Lektoren. Am konkreten Beispiel aus den 1980er Jahren und durch Nutzung von (bisher nur privat zugänglichem) Archiv-Material soll die Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem Lyriker Richard Pietraß und der Lektorin Gabriele Bock vom Leipziger Reclam-Verlag in Form eines Dossiers dokumentiert und analysiert werden

Representing translation in a documentary about one of the world’s most translated songs: ‘Translatedness’ in Peter Miller’s The Internationale (2000)

This paper analyses ‘translatedness’ – representations of translation and the ways and extent to which the act of translation are made explicit – in the short documentary The Internationale (2000). How is translation represented in a film about one of the world’s most widely translated and disseminated songs? Drawing inspiration from film narratology, it first examines the auditive and visual meaning-making resources at work in the documentary, keying in on how these combine in complex ways to render translatedness and give it meaning. Four representation types emerge from the analysis: translation as music; translation as a result (rather than as a prerequisite) of worldwide dissemination; (non)translation and multilingual choruses; and cultural translation. These inform a discussion of the ideological implications of a documentary narrative that acknowledges the pivotal role of translation in the song’s international dissemination but ultimately portrays (re)translation into English as the best way to revive its change potential and redeem it from past misuses. This seeming Anglocentrism sits somewhat uneasily alongside the song’s long and varied translation history and its past ideological investments

Volk und Welt: ein Verlag als Sprachinstitut

Der Text bietet zunächst einen Überblick über die breiten Tätigkeitsfelder dieses „Leitverlags für internationale Gegenwartsliteratur“ in der DDR mit seinen drei Westlektoraten und dem Lektorat für die Volksdemokratien. Er behandelt speziell die Reihen „Erkundungen“ sowie, das Phänomen der Interlinearübersetzung thematisierend, die weiße Reihe „internationale Lyrik“. Ein Schwerpunkt liegt auf dem Sowjetunion-Lektorat und dem schwierigen Umgang mit Literatur aus den Sowjetrepubliken