Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata

Facultad de Humanidades
Profesorado de Ingls
Literatura Comparada
Alumnas: Larragneguy, Melisa
Muoz, Natalia
TP N2: Foreignization in Ilan Stavans translation of Dickinsons J 288

Emily Dickinsons poems have been translated into Spanish by different authors.
Such translations have differences and similarities in relation with the original version.
According to Schleiermacher (1813), we can identify two types of translations:
foreignizing and domesticating. In the first one, the translator is invisible, that is to say,
the translator does not manipulate the poem and keeps the cultural and linguistic
conventions of the original version. In the second, the translator visibly adapts the poem
to the target audiences culture and language. These processes can also be identified
based on the translations structure. If the translator makes the reader go to the writers
encounter; that is, if the adapter helps the reader move towards the authors culture and
language, then it is an instance of foreignizing. However, if the translator makes the
author go to the readers encounter, introducing the poet in the world of the target
culture, then it is an instance of domesticating. In Ilan Stavans translation of
Dickinsons poem J 288, the translator is clearly invisible as he follows Dickinsons
writing style, and as such, he foreignizes the work.
To begin with, capital letters, dashes and exclamation points are present in
Stavans translation. The use of such punctuation marks is one of Dickinsons
characteristics, thus, keeping these features in the translation may move the reader
towards English poetry and Dickinsons style. It is worth mentioning that capital letters
at the beginning of each verse imply a convention of English poetry. In this case, the
translator is invisible, since he has not altered such typological elements. What is more,
in the first verse, he wrote only the final exclamation mark, as it is used in English,
instead of writing both at the beginning and at the end, as it is common in Spanish.
Stavans follows Dickinsons and English poetrys conventions, not adapting them to the
readers culture, but rather placing the reader closer to such foreign writing style.
As regards lexis, Stavans version of Dickinsons poem J 288 mirrors the
original piece. The translator has carefully chosen vocabulary items to follow

Dickinsons style and prose. He decided to include Junio as the time of the year
(summer) in which frogs croak. Considering Stavans is from Mexico and that such
country belongs to the Northern hemisphere, as well as Dickinsons homeland the USA,
this may pose no problem to the understanding of the verse. Spanish speakers from the
Southern hemisphere, as Argentinians, may find such idea strange and foreign due to
seasonal differences between hemispheres. However, the translators choice of words
aims at making the reader go to the writers encounter; that is, moving the reader
towards the authors culture and language.
Regarding syntax, some differences can be found. For example, in Dickinsons
original there is anaphora in verses 5 and 6, since both begin with How. Nevertheless,
in Stavans translation, such literary resource cannot be seen. Even though he could
have written Cun in both instances, the meaning in Spanish would have been altered.
Once more, to respect the meaning Emily Dickinson tried to convey through her poem,
Stavans may have chosen to eliminate the anaphora.
In all, of the two different paths a translator can use to put author and reader
close, Ilan Stavans used foreignization in Emily Dickinson's poem J 288. By doing so,
Stavans kept both cultural and language conventions. He attempted to resemble
Dickinsons writing in context, to make the reader go to her encounter, in her place and
in her time, even though that may be a strange (and foreign) place for the reader.