Challenges and Distortions of Translating Grammatical Gender in Literary Texts: Julio Cortázar Translated into Various European Languages

2021 ◽  
Vol 98 (7) ◽  
pp. 679-691
Author(s):  
UWE KJÆR NISSEN
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Julio Cortazar ◽  
Relevant Question ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Biological Gender ◽  
Julio Cortázar

With a focus on various translations of the short story ‘Historia con migalas’ by one of the most renowned Latin American writers, the Argentinian author Julio Cortázar, this article describes and exemplifies numerous translational problems with respect to grammatical gender. In spite of the difficulties in Spanish of entirely avoiding gender/ sex references, Cortázar deliberately endeavours (successfully) to hide the gender of the protagonist couple by tricking the reader into a heterosexual, stereotypical mindset until, at the end of the story, he reveals that the couple consists of two women, forcing the reader to reanalyse and reinterpret the entire story. As this article shows, not all translators seem to be aware of Cortázar’s subtle play with grammatical gender, and vice versa - in this case - biological gender and, therefore, entirely miss the quintessence of the story. A relevant question that arises is whether it is possible in the languages under consideration to translate this playing with gender at all, or whether constraints as to the structure of the languages impede it (for example, differences between grammatical gender and natural gender languages). Finally, some evidence is brought forward to address the question of how the (mis)translated short stories were received by reviewers.

scholarly journals De paradoxen van “Latijns-Amerikaans Handboek” van Kristien Hemmerechts en zijn vertaling

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hildegard Vermeiren
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Cultural Identity ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Cultural Distance ◽  
Literary Genre

“Latijns-Amerikaans Handboek” by Kristien Hemmerechts proves that short stories as a literary genre are able to portray a complex multilingual adven-ture in just a few pages. The writer makes use of a Latin American setting to give shape to the galloping loss of identity of a young Flemish man, travel-ling with his girlfriend through the Peruvian Quechua world. The enormous cultural distance between the Flemish and Quechua cultures makes his metamorphosis as absurd as it is comprehensible. Because of her emotional faithfulness, his girlfriend does not intervene and as a result the young man dies. The translation of this short story in its turn poses the problem of the loss of that same cultural identity. In the name of his professional faithful-ness, however, it is the duty of the translator to intervene in time and to save from death the original cultural identity of the story.

Mothers, Lovers, and Others: The Short Stories of Julio Cortázar

Hispania ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 735
Author(s):  
Debra D. Andrist ◽  
Cynthia Schmidt Cruz
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Julio Cortazar ◽  
Julio Cortázar

Spectral Comparisons: Cortázar and Derrida

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Kelman
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Julio Cortazar ◽  
Spectral Comparison ◽  
Julio Cortázar

How can a certain monolingualism help theorize comparative literature? What does Hispanism have to say about comparison? By comparing texts by Julio Cortázar (on the cuento or short story) and Jacques Derrida (on the limit), Kelman suggests that the mode of communication called “Hispanism” is structured like a cuento: every focus on a delimited text in Spanish would also present another text that never fully appears. Cortázar especially invites us to think about a ghostly “comparative literature” at the heart of Hispanism. This spectral comparison—or a comparative literature in secret—would then touch the sovereignty of the Hispanist, even and especially when the emphasis remains limited to the monolingual.

scholarly journals Cortázar-Heker (1978-1981). Polémica elidida/genocidio negado

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (15) ◽  
pp. 320-355
Author(s):  
Inés Vázquez
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Julio Cortazar ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
Working Hypothesis ◽  
Social Discourses ◽  
Critical Resource ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Julio Cortázar

I discuss in this text the well-known “controversy” between Liliana Heker and Julio Cortázar from a little traveled perspective, linked to the analysis of social discourses, with attention to the traces left in them by the genocide of the forced disappearance of people carried out by the civic dictatorship -Army military (1976-1983). I point out as a working hypothesis the impossibility of the controversy presented by Heker, based on the tear, under the conditions of the dictatorial context, of the prevailing “reading contract” in the cultural interaction of the Latin American and Argentine left during the 1960s-70s. I analyze the “emotion / exaggeration” categories, and some of their associated terms, as a critical resource used by Heker against certain statements by Cortázar. I thus seek to approximate a critical reflection on what I call “genocide denied” as a condition accepted in Heker's speech to carry out his “controversy”.

scholarly journals RESEPSI SISWA MADRASAH TSANAWIYAH KABUPATEN BANTUL TERHADAP CERPEN REMAJA PADA SURAT KABAR KEDAULATAN RAKYAT

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Siska Yuniati ◽  
Burhan Nurgiyantoro
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Emotional Impact ◽  
Making Meaning ◽  
Emotional Aspect ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Emotional Aspects ◽  
Literary Reception

Literary reception encompasses reader’s role in making meaning from literary texts. Student’s reception of teenage short story can give an idea of student’s acceptance of this type of text. This is interesting because students as teenagers are rarely involved in responding to teenage short stories, particularly ones available in newspapers. This research aims to examine the reception of teen short stories in the Kedaulatan Rakyat Newspaper by students of Madrasah Tsanawiyah in Bantul Regency in terms of intellectual and emotional aspects. Respondents in this study are 128 students of MTsN 1 Bantul, MTsN 3 Bantul, MTsN 4 Bantul, MTs Al Falah, and MTs Hasyim Asy'ari. The data were collected using a reception questionnaire focusing on intellectual and emotional aspects. The results of the study are as follows. First, in terms of intellectual aspect, the students’ reception of teen short stories in Kedaulatan Rakyat is high (70.82%), moderate (15.62%), and low (13.58%). Second, in terms of emotional aspect, the students’ reception of teen short stories in this newspaper is high (38.86%), moderate (20.28%), and low (40.86%). Fourth, there is no significant difference between the reception of students from state madrasah and private madrasah. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that students of class IX of Madrasah Tsanawiyah, Bantul Regency can understand well the elements of story builders and the structure of short story, language, themes, and conflicts in the short story. Students also understand the logic of the story in the text and feel the tension of the conflict. The new values in the short stories and actions of the main characters are quite acceptable to students. Students are also interested enough to discuss the short stories further. Meanwhile, most students felt less emotional impact and do not feel the tension presented in the short story.

“Tercer mundo global”: as várias identidades dos Secos & Molhados (1974)

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 192
Author(s):  
Thales Reis Alecrim
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Third World ◽  
Julio Cortazar ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
America Latina ◽  
Julio Cortázar

O presente artigo objetiva compreender as várias identidades sobrepostas, por vezes contraditórias ou confluentes, na canção Tercer Mundo do conjunto Secos & Molhados. A canção é a primeira faixa do lado A do disco Secos & Molhados II (1974). A letra é um fragmento da Prosa del Observatório (1972) do escritor Julio Cortázar. A prosa trata, no plano metafórico, da insuficiência da razão para compreendermos o mundo. A canção, no rastro das ideias da prosa, mobilizou referências que se alinhavam a essa perspectiva, mesclando elementos estético-ideológicos de ideias que previam uma união latino-americana, ibérica, terceiro mundista e ligada à contracultura. Dessa forma, diante desse quadro complexo, seguimos um caminho de análise que visa identificar o público consumidor e como essas identidades se configuravam e, dependendo do caso, se uniam ou excluíam.Palavras-chave: América latina. Terceiro mundo. Canção. Contracultura. Identidade.AbstractThe present article aims to understand the various identities, sometimes contradictory or confluent, in the song Tercer Mundo by the group Secos & Molhados. The song is the first track on side A of the album Secos & Molhados II (1974). The lyrics are a fragment of the Prosa del Observatorio (1972) by the writer Julio Cortázar. At the metaphorical level, the prose deals with the insufficiency of the rationalist paradigm to understand the world. The song, in the vein of prose ideas, mobilized references that aligned with this perspective, mixing aesthetic-ideological elements of ideas that foresaw a Latin American, Iberian, third wordlist, and linked to the counterculture union. Thus, in the face of this complex picture, we follow a path of analysis that aims to identify the consumer public and how these identities were configured and, depending on the case, were united or excluded.Keywords: Latin America. Third World. Song. Counterculture. Identity.

scholarly journals Enhancing Students' Reaction Writing via Short Stories: A Pedagogical Perspective

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ainon Omar ◽  
Ezatul Marini Mohd. Ghazali
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
Short Story ◽  
English Language ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Authentic Material ◽  
Technical Students ◽  
Post Test

Studies have shown that literary texts such as short stories have been able to develop students’ interpretative skills as well as provide opportunities for students to enhance their critical thinking skills. This study aimed at investigating the use of short stories on enhancing students’ reaction writing. The purpose of the study was to look into a new method that can assist students in expressing their views and opinions about current issues. Thus, a study was conducted to investigate whether the use of short stories as an authentic material can assist students in enhancing their reaction writing. An experimental study was employed on a group of technical students. A pre-test was administered followed by treatment sessions and finally a post-test before a semi-structured interview was conducted on lecturers. The study gathered data on the lecturers’ perceptions towards the idea of incorporating literary texts in their English language lessons. The findings showed that the use of the short story had assisted students to generate ideas to write their reaction paper although a lot of guidance had to be given by the lecturer. The students as well as the lecturers were optimistic on the idea of incorporating literature in the English language course. However, the choice of literary texts needs to be carefully selected and also students’ interests and needs are taken into consideration in order for them to write their reaction paper.

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