http://game-of-you.livejournal.com/ (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
game-of-you.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2006-01-19 11:49 am
game-of-you.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2006-01-19 11:49 am
Entry tags:
Foreign Lit, 1/19, Period 2
"Good morning. There is juice and tea at the front of the classroom, should any of you want them. Coffee gives children bad dreams."
"In any event, we will discuss Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire in class today. This volume is important in the symbolist and modernist movements, dealing as the poems do with themes relating to decadence and eroticism.
The initial publication of the book was arranged in five thematically segregated sections: Spleen et Idéal (Spleen and Ideal); Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil); Révolte (Revolt); Le Vin (Wine); and La Mort (Death)
The foreword to the volume, blasphemously defining Satan as "thrice-great", and calling boredom the worst of miseries, neatly sets the general tone of what is to follow:
Si le viol, le poison, le poignard, l'incendie,
N'ont pas encore brodé de leurs plaisants dessins
Le canevas banal de nos piteux destins,
C'est que notre âme, hélas! n'est pas assez hardie.
If rape and poison, dagger and burning,
Have still not embroidered their pleasant designs
On the banal canvas of our pitiable destinies,
It's because our souls, alas, are not bold enough!
The preface concludes with the following malediction:
C'est l'Ennui! —l'oeil chargé d'un pleur involontaire,
Il rêve d'échafauds en fumant son houka.
Tu le connais, lecteur, ce monstre délicat,
—Hypocrite lecteur,—mon semblable,—mon frère!
It's Boredom! — his eye brimming with spontaneous tear
He dreams of the gallows in the haze of his hookah.
You know him, reader, this delicate monster,
Hypocritical reader, my likeness, my brother!
The author and the publisher were prosecuted under the regime of the Second Empire as an "insult to public decency." As a consequence of this prosecution, Baudelaire was fined 300 francs. Six poems from the work were suppressed, and the ban on their publication was not lifted in France until 1949. On the other hand, upon reading Les Fleurs du Mal, Victor Hugo announced that Baudelaire had created "un nouveau frisson" -- meaning a new shudder or a new thrill -- in literature.
In the wake of the prosecution a second edition was issued in 1861 which added 32 new poems, removed the six suppressed poems and added a new section entitled Tableaux Parisiens.
Now, in the volume I gave you to work from, each poem is printed alongside several modern translations. I would like for you to pick one poem and discuss the differences among the translations, as well as which you feel is most accurate, should you read French.
On Tuesday, we will have a quiz to end our section on French literature."
[Lecture stolen from here.]
"In any event, we will discuss Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire in class today. This volume is important in the symbolist and modernist movements, dealing as the poems do with themes relating to decadence and eroticism.
The initial publication of the book was arranged in five thematically segregated sections: Spleen et Idéal (Spleen and Ideal); Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of Evil); Révolte (Revolt); Le Vin (Wine); and La Mort (Death)
The foreword to the volume, blasphemously defining Satan as "thrice-great", and calling boredom the worst of miseries, neatly sets the general tone of what is to follow:
Si le viol, le poison, le poignard, l'incendie,
N'ont pas encore brodé de leurs plaisants dessins
Le canevas banal de nos piteux destins,
C'est que notre âme, hélas! n'est pas assez hardie.
If rape and poison, dagger and burning,
Have still not embroidered their pleasant designs
On the banal canvas of our pitiable destinies,
It's because our souls, alas, are not bold enough!
The preface concludes with the following malediction:
C'est l'Ennui! —l'oeil chargé d'un pleur involontaire,
Il rêve d'échafauds en fumant son houka.
Tu le connais, lecteur, ce monstre délicat,
—Hypocrite lecteur,—mon semblable,—mon frère!
It's Boredom! — his eye brimming with spontaneous tear
He dreams of the gallows in the haze of his hookah.
You know him, reader, this delicate monster,
Hypocritical reader, my likeness, my brother!
The author and the publisher were prosecuted under the regime of the Second Empire as an "insult to public decency." As a consequence of this prosecution, Baudelaire was fined 300 francs. Six poems from the work were suppressed, and the ban on their publication was not lifted in France until 1949. On the other hand, upon reading Les Fleurs du Mal, Victor Hugo announced that Baudelaire had created "un nouveau frisson" -- meaning a new shudder or a new thrill -- in literature.
In the wake of the prosecution a second edition was issued in 1861 which added 32 new poems, removed the six suppressed poems and added a new section entitled Tableaux Parisiens.
Now, in the volume I gave you to work from, each poem is printed alongside several modern translations. I would like for you to pick one poem and discuss the differences among the translations, as well as which you feel is most accurate, should you read French.
On Tuesday, we will have a quiz to end our section on French literature."
[Lecture stolen from here.]
Sign-in and Class Discussion, 1/19
Re: Sign-in and Class Discussion, 1/19
"I looked mostly at 'The Jewels'. I thought it was really interesting how the different translations used different rhyme schemes, even though it looks like the original French poem had one type of rhyme in particular. The translators were injecting their own aesthetic to the original text, so even though the images and ideas were pretty much all Baudelaire's, the poem is almost an original work by the translator.
"I think maybe the first one is the most accurate, though. I don't read French, but the translator didn't use a rhyme. I think that means he was looking for the best translation of the meaning, and not just the, um, poetry-ness of the original. While at first glance, all the poems say the same thing, every different word has a slightly different meaning, and choosing a word because it rhymes doesn't mean that you're staying true to the original author's goal."
Re: Sign-in and Class Discussion, 1/19
"Le Vin des amants... The Wine of Lovers. There are only two translations for it, by William Aggeler and Roy Campbell. Campell's appears to be more about mirroring the rhyme scheme used by Baudelaire. The problem with that, is that it appears to miss out points which could be considered key, such as in the first line, it doesn't include the "Today". Aggeler includes those, and his translations appear closer to the original words used."
Re: Sign-in and Class Discussion, 1/19
I chose his poem Une Charogne (http://fleursdumal.org/poem/126). Both Campbell and LeClerq try to duplicate Baudelaire's rhyme scheme in English, but both of their translations seem awkward and a bit forced. Campbell's in particular has several odd sounding word choices picked in order to create rhymes, which leaves it with a sort of forced feeling. Of the remaining two, Wagner tones down the descriptive terms, such as translating the strong phrase "ventre putride" as the much milder "rotten belly". It seems to me that Aggeler does the better job of balancing the beautiful love poem type language, with the disturbing images of the putrid mule corpse.
After Class
Re: After Class
Re: After Class
Re: After Class
Re: After Class
Re: After Class
Re: After Class