Catalan women translators: an introductory overview

Abstract

Until recently, the history of Catalan translation was rarely the object of rigorous studies and even less was written about the role of women within it. Nevertheless, and even though the texts they produced may not date as far back as in other cultures, female Catalan translators have left an important legacy that is closely connected to the vicissitudes of Catalan history itself. It is perhaps precisely because of the identity of the writers – who belong to three non-hegemonic groups: women, Catalans and translators – that the history of their work has remained largely unexplored. The present article aims to offer an initial assessment of that history in the hope of stimulating further research in this important and neglected field. We present a detailed survey of Catalan translations undertaken by women between the medieval period and the present day, and a critical discussion of the context in which these women worked as well as their place within it.

Keywords:

• history of translation
• Catalan women translators
• gender
• dictatorship
• exile
• Catalan language

Acknowledgements

This article reports on research undertaken by the Study Group on Contemporary Catalan Translation (GETCC) (2014 SGR 285) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and by the research group Gender Studies: Translation, Literature, History and Communication (2014 SGR 62) of the University of Vic. It also forms part of the project Translation in the Catalan Literary System: Exile, Gender and Ideology (1939–2000) (FF12010-19851-C02-01) and the sub-project Women Translators and Translations in Contemporary Catalonia (1939–2000) (FF12010-19851-C02-02).

This article was translated by Sheila Waldeck.

Notes

^1. This and all subsequent quotations are translated by Sheila Waldeck.

^2. Montoriol also translated other works by Shakespeare: Cymbeline (Cimbel.lí, 1930) and Twelfth Night, or What You Will (La nit de reis o el que vulgueu, 1935).

^3. Well-known writings in this field include Hannay (1985), Krontiris (1992), Stark (1993), Robinson (1995), Simon (1996), Maier (1994), Flotow (1997), Delisle (2002), Agorni (2005), Wolf (2005), Freire (2006) and Castro (2012). In the context of Catalan translation in the twentieth century, important works include Oliver (1992), Massot i Muntaner (1993), Albertocchi (1996), Perelló and Rosselló (1996), Malé (1999), Real (1998), Godayol (2002, 2004, 2006a, 2006b, 2007, 2008, 2010a, 2010b, 2011a, 2011b), Bacardí (2004, 2006, 2012), Pessarrodona (2005), Bacardí and Godayol (2006, 2008, 2011, 2013), Pujol (2005), Pinyol (2006), Torrents (2006), Udina (2006, 2008, 2009), Arenas (2007), Biosca (2007, 2011), Carné (2007, 2009), Mur (2009), Parcerisas (2009) and Julià (2010). 

^4. The outstanding poets Agustí Bartra and Joan Ferraté would produce their own versions of Eliot’s poem a few years after Leveroni, in 1951 and 1952 respectively.

^5. Among others, Aurora Díaz-Plaja (1917–2003), Esyllt T. Lawrence (1917–1995), Felícia Fuster (1921–211), Hortènsia Curell (1923–2005), M. Àngela Cerdà i Surroca (1930), Rosa-Victòria Gras (1933), M. Eulàlia Valeri (1936), Montserrat Manent (1940), Maria Ginés (1941), Montserrat Jufresa (1942), Dolors Folch (1941), M. Rosa Vallribera (1941), Núria Petit (1943), Montserrat Ros (1943), Isabel-Clara Simó (1943), Rosa Serrano (1945), Concepció Ciuraneta (1947), Teresa Duran (1948), M. Lluïsa Presas (1949), Elisabet Abeyà (1951), Pilar Estelrich (1952), Maria-Mercè Marçal (1952–1998), Teresa Pascual (1952), Dolors Udina (1953), Heike van Lawick (1954), Anna Montero (1954), Núria Mirabet (1954), Carme Gala (1955), Anna Tortajada (1957), Josefina Caball (1958), Anna Casassas (1958), Monika Zgustová (1959), Carme Arenas (1954), Marta Pera (1959), Elisabet Ràfols (1960), Montserrat Vancells (1961), Margarida Castells (1962), Dolors Cinca (1963–1999).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Montserrat Bacardí

Montserrat Bacardí is a professor at the Faculty of Translation and Interpreting of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). She graduated in Catalan Studies before earning a PhD in Hispanic Studies. She has been involved in many publications. Since 1998 she has been the coordinator of Quaderns. Revista de Traducció. She has published articles on the history of literature and translation and various books: Alfons Costafreda: La temptació de la poesia (1989), Cent anys de traducció al català (1891–1990): Antologia (1998), Anna Murià: El vici d’escriure (2004), El Quixot en català (2006) and Catalans a Buenos Aires: Records de Fivaller Seras (2009), La traducció catalana sota el franquisme (2012) and, with Pilar Godayol, Una impossibilitat possible: Trenta anys de traducció als Països Catalans (1975–2005) (ed.) (2010), Diccionari de la traducció catalana (dir.) (2011) and Les traductores i la tradició (2013).

Pilar Godayol

Pilar Godayol holds a PhD in Translation Studies and is sworn translator. She is a senior lecturer in the Department of Translation and Interpreting of the University of Vic (UVic). She is the director of the “Gender Studies Research Group: Translation, Literature, History and Communication” (GETLIHC) at the UVic. She has participated in many conferences and published numerous studies dealing with gender, biography, Chicana literature and history and theory of translation, including: Espais de frontera. Gènere i traducció (2000), translated into Italian (Spazi di frontiera, 2002); Veus xicanes (ed. and trans.) (2001), translated into Italian (Voci chicane, 2005); Germanes de Shakespeare (2003); Virginia Woolf (2005), Dones de Bloomsbury (2006); Catalanes del XX (ed.) (2006); Moments femenins de la humanitat (2007); Viatgeres i escriptores (2011); with Patrizia Calefato, Traducción / Género / Poscolonialismo (coord.) (2008); and with Montserrat Bacardí, Una impossibilitat possible. (eds.) (2010), Diccionari de la traducció catalana (eds.) (2011) and Les traductores i la tradició (2013).