Abstract

Translation is always an act of furthering and response. It takes a written work beyond its boundaries, both structurally and linguistically, and offers, in 'answer,' a new text. But there are instances when a translation goes one full step further, becoming more than a translation, becoming something that requires a new name to indicate its transgression: for example, a "closelaboration," a "nontranslation," or a "trans e lation" (Suzanne Jill Levine, The Subversive Scribe ; Jacques Brault, Poèmes des quatre côtés ; Erin Mouré, Sheep's Vigil for a Fervent Person ). Further still are works, like my own, where translation becomes the door to creative writing. These are practices and texts that have entered a new arena beyond conventional limits of translation--a creative, resonant space. Moments of creative composition through translation, which are often playful, reveal a deep sympathy between the translated work and the translator: a resonance. My project explores the idea and the act of response, through--and beyond--translation. I begin as the translator (who is more deeply engaged--creatively, already--with the text than a casual reader will ever be) and end as the writer, composing pieces in response to the translated text. Prefaced by a discussion of creative response and the limits of translation, my project is a translation accompanied by a work of resonant response.