Untranslatability and Interpretive Resemblance in Emily Dickinson's Renderings into Spanish

Abstract:In his essay, a compressed version of a longer publication, Calvillo counters the persistent claim that poetry is inherently untranslatable through a consideration of Emily Dickinson's work. He argues that "the translation of poetry is plausible" as long as it recognizes itself as "distinct, derived, and conditioned." He then goes on to evaluate the history of Spanish translations of Dickinson. The essay begins with an attempt to assess Dickinson's particularity, emphasizing the depth of her philosophical reflection, the sharpness of her emotional understanding, and her extravagant use of the English language. It reviews her critical reception throughout the decades, arriving at the appearance of the first editions of her work in foreign languages. The point is made that, although Dickinson renditions have been undertaken by all kinds of interlingual interpreters—professional translators, writers, artists, academic researchers, and amateur readers—the groundbreaking labor has been carried out, perhaps not accidentally, by poets—Paul Celan, Manuel Bandeira, Claire Malroux, Simon Vestdijk, Juan Ramón Jiménez. Summarizing his longer project, Calvillo provides a glimpse of his "comparative assessment of the translation of Dickinson's work into Spanish" through an evaluative review of the main translators of Dickinson into "Cervantes's tongue," from Spain to Mexico, from Argentina and Uruguay to Colombia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and from the dawn of the 20th Century to the dawn of our own, leaving readers on the brink of discovering just how "Her Message is committed" in the Spanish language.