Proust and Rewriting

This chapter focuses on the ways in which Davis rewrites Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, drawing on theories of rewriting from translation studies (Lefevere) and American literature (Moraru). It begins by analysing Davis’s authorial rewriting in her novel The End of the Story, which echoes and parallels Proust’s novel thematically and structurally. By comparing the two novels, the chapter shows the dialogue between. The second half of the chapter focuses on Davis’s translation of Proust and how it is placed in relation to the canonical translation by Scott Moncrieff and the less known translation by Grieve. Davis’s translation is seen as a rewriting of the canon of Proust in English while extending the practices seen in her translations of Blanchot and Leiris.

Introduction

This chapter introduces the book. It offers an overview of Davis’s career as a writer and as a translator before putting forward the main argument of the book that translation is central to understanding Davis’s work. The chapter then discusses the role of translation in a writer’s œuvre, arguing, based on a literature review, that there are three main trends: 1) translation that has no relation to the rest of their work, 2) translation as influential on a writer and 3) translation in dialogue with their other writing. In Davis’s case, there are examples of translations which have no relation to her other writing, but the book focuses on those where a dialogue can be perceived. The chapter ends by summarising the upcoming chapters.

Translation as Composition

This chapter analyses where Davis uses practices that are like translation in her stories and where Davis uses translation as a narrative focus of her stories. In the first half, Davis’s work is read through the paradigms of collage, quotation and pastiche. Through close readings of stories such as ‘Once A Very Stupid Man’ and ‘Southward Bound, Reads Worstward Ho’, the chapter argues that Davis’s writing problematizes the notion of the unitary text and questions understandings of authorship. As with the stories from Flaubert and her Marie Curie story, the original text is never full incorporated into her work, yet is part of it. The second half of the chapter analyses the stories ‘Foucault and Pencil’ and ‘The Letter’. In the former, a reading of Foucault stands in for understanding an argument with another character; emotion is displaced into intellect. In ‘The Letter’, this process involves the central character trying to decipher the meaning of a poem in French which has been sent as a letter. In all these stories, translation is central to Davis’s narrative production and, at the same time, serves to highlight the connection between translation and writing in her work in general.

Leiris and Dialogue

This chapter focuses on Davis’s literary relationship with Michel Leiris. Davis has translated three of Leiris’s books, including two volumes of his autobiography La Règle du jeu. Davis’s translation strategy in this case is quite unusual and includes the retention of French words in the English text in order to keep chains of alliteration. The translation therefore breaks with convention in many ways. Davis’s work also contains stories that refer to Leiris, but the greatest point of affinity between them is how they both play with the poetic function of language, though through a series of close readings, it is shown that Davis uses this play to open up possibilities for reading while Leiris uses it as part of an autobiographical process.

Flaubert and Authority

This chapter focuses on Davis’s translation and rewriting of Flaubert’s work in her translation of Madame Bovary and in her ‘Ten Stories from Flaubert’. The first half of the chapter analyses her translation of Madame Bovary, asking how it is positioned through Davis’s paratextual materials. As the retranslation of a multiply translated novel, Davis positions her translation as a translation of the style of the novel, against earlier translations. While Madame Bovary is a conventional translation, Davis’s ‘Ten Stories from Flaubert’ problematizes the distinction between writing and translation, as the stories are based on translated extracts from Flaubert’s letters. As such, they are read with both Davis and Flaubert in mind; this doubleness recalls found objects that are both everyday objects and presented as artistic works.

Marie Curie and Parody

This chapter focuses on Davis’s story ‘Marie Cure, So Honorable Woman’. This story challenges the boundary between translation and writing as it is constructed from overly literal translation fragments from a biography of Marie Curie that Davis had translated in a more conventional way elsewhere. Beginning with the publication history of the story, the chapter argues that it can be read as a form of parody of the original text through the selection of material presented and through the expressly unidiomatic translation style, although at the same time the source text is not as well-known as might be expected of parodies. Through its use of style, the story questions the role of representation in translation and biography. How a story is told is shown to be central to the understanding of that story.

Blanchot and Affinity

This chapter focuses on Davis’s literary relationship with Maurice Blanchot. She began translating Blanchot early on in her career and some of her stories can be seen to respond to his work. The chapter first focuses on Davis’s translation of Death Sentence and her approach to the translation, which it argues is the beginning of her own translation style and which shows a respect for the source author. The second half of the chapter analyses Davis’s story ‘Story’ and Blanchot’s ‘The Madness of the Day’. It is argued that Davis’s ‘Story’ offers a response to Blanchot’s récit, recreating the indeterminacy of the narrative while addressing the emotional concerns of the protagonist. Translation and story both serve as forms of response to Blanchot’s work.