Reformulating the problem of translatability

Abstract

Abstract Forms of collaboration are particularly prevalent in translation of literature, especially of poetry, where the synergy of different perspectives of co-participants may be among the essential ingredients for creative success. In this study, we explore the dynamics of a collaborative translation into English of the contemporary Spanish poet Francisco Brines, addressing how certain key questions of translational practice, including the translation of gender values, can be fruitfully problematised and resolved in a theoretically grounded collaborative approach. In elucidating these dynamics, including those which destabilise and generate knowledge, we use the notion of translaboration, synthesising concepts drawn from activity theory and communities of practice theory. We illustrate and review this notion through a critical narrative of selected aspects of the translational work.