Translation, Adaptation, Otherness: 'Foreignisation' in Theatre Practice

根据英国剧院剧目调查，2013年在英国上演的所有戏剧中只有3.2%是翻译的，但根据移民观察组织的数据，12.5%的英国居民是在外国出生的，只有80%的人口认为自己是“白种英国人”，英国的学校里说着数百种语言，尤其是在伦敦。英国艺术委员会2014年的一份报告强调了英国剧院缺乏多样性的问题，报告称：“艺术和文化劳动力更能代表其服务的社会，这一点至关重要。”(第1页)这个为期两年的项目认为，翻译在促进表演艺术平等方面发挥着关键作用。为了使英国剧院对更多样化的观众具有吸引力和代表性，该项目建议进一步提高从业者、行业专业人士、翻译人员、观众、学生和学者之间关于翻译伦理和政治的现有辩论，并扩大对这一辩论的认识。在移民问题成为政治议程的中心，民族主义情绪高涨之际，戏剧翻译和舞台上的异质表现可以为不同文化间的对话提供一个公共舞台。该研究员的目标是开展研究和公共参与活动，将翻译政治和通过戏剧表现他者置于公众视线中。这项研究将调查以下问题：目前在剧院占主导地位的翻译/改编策略是什么？什么构成了戏剧翻译/改编的“异化”方法？同样的方法能适用于不同类型的来源吗？“异化”对表现和科学的影响是什么？剧场制作人如何在排练室协商一份“异化”的翻译草稿？观众对此有何反应？翻译学者劳伦斯·韦努蒂支持他所说的“异化”翻译策略，认为这是一种与“归化”相反的翻译策略，因为前者试图限制陌生事物被强行转化为熟悉的、沉默的文化差异的程度。尽管最近学术界对“异化”产生了兴趣，但戏剧研究仍然缺乏争论，即舞台翻译的“异化”方法对文本和表演意味着什么，以及戏剧--而不是文学--是否需要一种独特的方法。目前的剧院培训和意识形态信仰如何影响英国剧院的翻译实践，这一问题也没有得到充分的探讨，对改编的“异化”方法的概念也是如此。与此同时，为了吸引尽可能多的观众，戏剧业倾向于认为“归化”是理所当然的，认为“异化”是一种更笨拙、风险更大、但未经检验的替代方案。这位研究员和她的合作者将选择三部戏剧由驻欧洲的剧作家翻译，用波兰语、西班牙语和法语写作--代表了英国使用最多的三种欧洲移民语言--并组织由学者兼翻译领导的专业表演者和创造性合作者的实践作为研究研讨会，以测试“异化”策略。这位研究员和她的研究员将在创作过程中和之后与表演者和观众进行定性研究。每个研讨会都将于2016年5月和6月在伦敦的Gate剧院以预演朗读的形式向公众展示他们的成果。每一场表演之后都会有一场表演后的辩论。在英国是否留在欧盟的公投即将举行之际，这将是近年来最关键的政治辩论之一，该研究员的目标是通过与我们的顾问Firehouse Creative Productions合作，将其中一部戏剧开发成2017年爱丁堡边缘的全面制作，从而扩大该项目的影响范围。

According to the British Theatre Repertoire Survey, in 2013 only 3.2% of all the plays performed in the UK were in translation, and yet according to the Migration Observatory, 12.5% of UK residents are foreign-born, only 80% of the population identifies as 'white British' and hundreds of languages are spoken in the country's schools, especially in London. The lack of diversity in British theatres is highlighted in a 2014 Arts Council England report, stating: 'It is vital that the arts and cultural workforce becomes more representative of the society it serves' (p. 1). This two-year project argues that translation has a key role to play in fostering equality in the performing arts. In order to make British theatres attractive to, and representative of, a more diverse audience, this project proposes to further, and widen awareness of, existing debates on the ethics and politics of translation among practitioners, industry professionals, translators, audiences, students and scholars. At a time when immigration is at the centre of the political agenda and nationalist, anti-European sentiments are on the rise, theatre translation and the representation of otherness on stage can offer a public arena for intercultural dialogue. The Fellow aims to carry out research and public engagement activities that place the politics of translation and the representation of otherness through theatre in the public eye. The research will investigate questions such as: What are the current dominant translation/adaptation strategies in theatre? What constitutes a 'foreignising' approach to theatre translation/adaptation? Can the same approach work for different kinds of sources? What are the effects of 'foreignisation' on performance and mise en scène? How is a 'foreignising' translation draft negotiated by theatre-makers in the rehearsal room? How do audiences respond to it? Translation scholar Lawrence Venuti champions the translation strategy he calls 'foreignisation', as a as opposed to 'domestication', in that the former tries to limit the degree to which the unfamiliar is forcibly turned into the familiar, silencing cultural difference. Despite the recent academic interest in 'foreignisation', theatre studies still lack a debate on what a 'foreignising' approach to stage translation would mean for text and performance, and whether theatre - as opposed to literature - requires a distinctive approach. The question of how current theatre training and ideological beliefs influence translation practices in British theatres is also underexplored, and so is the notion of a 'foreignising' approach to adaptation. Meanwhile, the theatre industry tends to take 'domestication' for granted in an attempt to appeal to the widest possible audience, dismissing 'foreignisation' as a clumsier, riskier, yet untested alternative. The Fellow and her collaborators will select three plays for translation by playwrights based in Europe and writing in Polish, Spanish and French - representing three of the most spoken European migrant languages in the UK - and organise practice-as-research workshops with professional performers and creative collaborators, led by scholar-translators, to test 'foreignising' strategies. The Fellow and her Research Associate will carry out qualitative research during and after the creative process with performers and audiences. Each workshop will present their outcome to the public in the form of rehearsed readings at the Gate Theatre in London in May and June 2016. Each performance will be followed by a post-show debate. Taking place in the run-up to the in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU during what will be one of the most crucial political debates of recent times, the Fellow aims to widen the reach the project by working with our consultants, Firehouse Creative Productions, to develop one of the plays into full production for the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017.