Notes on memory culture and the (un)translatable, with illustrative reference to Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Kinder der Toten (1995)
Some commentators regard Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek’s major work, Die Kinder der Toten (1995), not only as a difficult novel but also as an untranslatable text. Various aspects of the novel seem to support this: not only does the text include a great many denotative and connotative ‘untranslat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
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AOSIS
2019-11-01
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| Series: | Literator |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1617 |
| _version_ | 1818153792798982144 |
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| author | Cilliers van den Berg |
| author_facet | Cilliers van den Berg |
| author_sort | Cilliers van den Berg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Some commentators regard Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek’s major work, Die Kinder der Toten (1995), not only as a difficult novel but also as an untranslatable text. Various aspects of the novel seem to support this: not only does the text include a great many denotative and connotative ‘untranslatables’ but Jelinek’s deconstructivist understanding of language also suggests a philosophically orientated slant to its untranslatability. The latter is first and foremost illustrated by her use of ‘Sprachflächen’ that subverts a linear reading of the novel. However, the very ‘untranslatability’ of the text should not be understood as an obstacle that defeats any and all attempts at its translation. As Apter (2014) and Cassin (2016) suggest, the untranslatable is precisely that which one does not stop (not) to translate. Viewed from this perspective, it seems as if the very untranslatability of Die Kinder der Toten can be understood as an invitation to engage with the complexities of the text and the memory culture it represents. These complexities can be related to the historical particularities of the Austrian memory culture that Jelinek presents and criticises in her novel. The untranslatable nature of Die Kinder der Toten illustrates that memory culture and its discursive artefacts have no definitive meanings that can easily be translated. And because the engagement with difficult pasts is continuous, no translation of the works created in its wake can be definitive. To a large extent, the untranslatable becomes the catalyst of continuous attempts to engage with a difficult past from an outsider perspective. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T14:16:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ef89da69538f4cf9a0ea38b0b33196f1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0258-2279 2219-8237 |
| language | Afrikaans |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T14:16:15Z |
| publishDate | 2019-11-01 |
| publisher | AOSIS |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Literator |
| spelling | doaj.art-ef89da69538f4cf9a0ea38b0b33196f12022-12-22T01:03:08ZafrAOSISLiterator0258-22792219-82372019-11-01401e1e910.4102/lit.v40i1.16171320Notes on memory culture and the (un)translatable, with illustrative reference to Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Kinder der Toten (1995)Cilliers van den Berg0Department of Afrikaans and Dutch, German and French, University of the Free State, BloemfonteinSome commentators regard Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek’s major work, Die Kinder der Toten (1995), not only as a difficult novel but also as an untranslatable text. Various aspects of the novel seem to support this: not only does the text include a great many denotative and connotative ‘untranslatables’ but Jelinek’s deconstructivist understanding of language also suggests a philosophically orientated slant to its untranslatability. The latter is first and foremost illustrated by her use of ‘Sprachflächen’ that subverts a linear reading of the novel. However, the very ‘untranslatability’ of the text should not be understood as an obstacle that defeats any and all attempts at its translation. As Apter (2014) and Cassin (2016) suggest, the untranslatable is precisely that which one does not stop (not) to translate. Viewed from this perspective, it seems as if the very untranslatability of Die Kinder der Toten can be understood as an invitation to engage with the complexities of the text and the memory culture it represents. These complexities can be related to the historical particularities of the Austrian memory culture that Jelinek presents and criticises in her novel. The untranslatable nature of Die Kinder der Toten illustrates that memory culture and its discursive artefacts have no definitive meanings that can easily be translated. And because the engagement with difficult pasts is continuous, no translation of the works created in its wake can be definitive. To a large extent, the untranslatable becomes the catalyst of continuous attempts to engage with a difficult past from an outsider perspective.https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1617untranslatabilitytranslationmemory cultureselfriede jelinekdie kinder der totenaustrian vergangenheitsbewältigung. |
| spellingShingle | Cilliers van den Berg Notes on memory culture and the (un)translatable, with illustrative reference to Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Kinder der Toten (1995) Literator untranslatability translation memory cultures elfriede jelinek die kinder der toten austrian vergangenheitsbewältigung. |
| title | Notes on memory culture and the (un)translatable, with illustrative reference to Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Kinder der Toten (1995) |
| title_full | Notes on memory culture and the (un)translatable, with illustrative reference to Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Kinder der Toten (1995) |
| title_fullStr | Notes on memory culture and the (un)translatable, with illustrative reference to Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Kinder der Toten (1995) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Notes on memory culture and the (un)translatable, with illustrative reference to Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Kinder der Toten (1995) |
| title_short | Notes on memory culture and the (un)translatable, with illustrative reference to Elfriede Jelinek’s Die Kinder der Toten (1995) |
| title_sort | notes on memory culture and the un translatable with illustrative reference to elfriede jelinek s die kinder der toten 1995 |
| topic | untranslatability translation memory cultures elfriede jelinek die kinder der toten austrian vergangenheitsbewältigung. |
| url | https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1617 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cilliersvandenberg notesonmemorycultureandtheuntranslatablewithillustrativereferencetoelfriedejelineksdiekinderdertoten1995 |