Translation as creative writing practice

ABSTRACT

Traditionally studied as a dichotomised theoretical issue in the field of translation studies, translation is alternatively considered, in this essay, to be a generic term which highlights its practical purposes and effects as a literary practice in creative writing. This essay extends the concept of literary translation to incorporate a range of rewriting practices, which range from strict translation to open writing. Open writing deviates considerably from translation in that it becomes imaginative writing. The varied forms of rewriting practices culminate to form a continuum, characteristic of being from most to least ‘faithful’ or least to most ‘free’. Due to the derivative nature of translation, rewriting practices have generated a blurred liminal space between translation to open writing, in which translation and creative writing are mutually transformative. This essay further analyses three particular forms of writing, mistranslation, self-translation and open response, all of which feature in translation related practices that are concurrently counter balanced by various gradations of authorship. Being a frequently discussed and disputable topic in translation studies, authorship also constitutes the fundamental element in creative writing. Ultimately, rewriting practices developed from the concept of translation can be integrated with the practice of creative writing.

KEYWORDS:

• Translation-related practices
• deviation
• rewriting
• creativity
• poetic composition

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewer for their constructive comments. Special thanks go to the Association of Stories in Macao (Macao) and Picador (London) for permission to use excerpts from poems that were respectively authored by Iris Fan and Ian McCallum.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 https://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/ouyang-yu/translating-myself-0282051

2 http://writing.upenn.edu/bernstein/wreading-experiments.html

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Xia Fang

Xia Fang, PhD. is a bilingual poet and translator. She has published several collections of translated poems and her own original poetry has appeared in The Postcolonial Text, Mascara, Mānoa and Marathon. A View of the Sky Tunnel (ASM) is her first book of poetry. Some of her research interests include literary translation, intercultural/bilingual writing, and creative writing research. She is a Lecturer at the College of International Studies, Yangzhou University.