Theatre Translation

About this book

"Translation for theatre is often considered to hold a marginal status between literary translation and adaptation for the stage among scholars. As a result, this book argues that any study of theatrical translation ultimately takes either a textual or performative approach. Exploring the history of translation theory through these lenses, Massimiliano Morini analyses two complex Western case histories which show how different cultures at different times may give preference to the textual or the performative features of theatre translation. Combining theory with practice, the book investigates how traditional theories of translation - from Cicero to the early 20th century - have been applied to theatrical translation. Morini then compares and contrasts the inherently textual viewpoint of Renaissance theatre translators with the more performative approaches of contemporary theatrical practitioners. In this way, Theatrical Translation traces how textual views of translating for theatre gave way to full-fledged performative theories in parallel to the evolution of translation science into translation studies, and presents a view of what theatre translation means today, both in theory and in practice"