Teoría y práctica de la traducción en “Traducción: literatura y literalidad” de Octavio Paz
Theory and Practice of Translation in Octavio Paz’s “Translation: Literature and Letters”

Author(s): María Luisa Pérez Bernardo
Subject(s): Language studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: translation; poetry; translatability; re-creation; intertextuality
Summary/Abstract: This essay analyzes the importance of translation in the work of the Mexican writer, Octavio Paz, as well as the relevance of the theory of translation in his many essays. For Paz, translation was not only an intellectual challenge, but it also served to broaden his literary and cultural knowledge, as well as his familiarity with authors from different countries. Specifically, in the essay “Translation: Literature and Letters”, Octavio Paz affirms that literary translation is always a recreation, a game in which invention unites with fidelity. For the Mexican Nobel Prize, translation is a creative act, this is to say, a process of transformation of the original text. Furthermore, Paz questions the notion that translations are inferior to source texts, but on the contrary, he affirms that they are even better versions. He concludes that it would be necessary for the translator to be a poet capable of recreating the original text, and opting for suitable metric forms to achieve the closest proximity to the original manuscript.

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