Paraphrasis Podcast

Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard
Paraphrasis Podcast

Paraphrasis is a podcast dedicated to the art and practice of literary translation, brought to you by a team of graduate students in the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard. www.paraphrasispodcast.com

  1. 11/05/2024

    Gitta Honegger on The Children of the Dead by Elfriede Jelinek

    In the last full episode of our first season, we hear scholar, translator, and performer Gitta Honegger discuss her German to English translation of The Children of the Dead, written in 1995 by the Nobel Prize winning author and playwright, Elfriede Jelinek. Considered to be Jelinek’s magnum opus, the 666 page novel takes place at dingy Alpine resort swarming with lacivious, reanimated corpses. Anna dives into the sinuous linguistic body of the translation, reaching the difficult question of collective guilt at its heart. The episode ends with a special reading by Jelinek and Honegger. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.paraphrasispodcast.com

    19 min

  2. 10/15/2024

    Bonus: Fiona Bell on slurs and their context

    How can a translator convey a text that contains troubling, archaic language while still engaging with contemporary readers? Listen in on how Fiona dealt with the historical nuances and present-day challenges posed by a character’s predilection for antisemitic language in her recent translation of Avdotya Panaeva’s 1848 novel, The Talnikov Family. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.paraphrasispodcast.com

    5 min

  3. 10/01/2024

    Fiona Bell on The Talnikov Family by Avdotya Panaeva

    In this episode, Fiona Bell discusses her translation of The Talnikov Family by Avdotya Panaeva, now out with Columbia University Press. Originally published in 1848, The Talnikov Family fictionalizes Panaeva’s precarious childhood in a family of actors in St. Petersburg. Fiona and Anna discuss bringing 19th century literature to life (if not the 19th century author) and the place of women in the Russian literary canon then and now. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.paraphrasispodcast.com

    19 min

  4. 09/17/2024

    Bonus: Daniel Hahn on "truco"

    “Truco,” a card game popular in Argentina, is a game of tricks, deception, and power plays. It is also a structuring feature of Martín Kohan’s Confession. Can a translator teach English-language readers the rules? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.paraphrasispodcast.com

    3 min

  5. 09/03/2024

    Daniel Hahn on Confession by Martín Kohan

    Daniel Hahn reflects on his translation of Martín Kohan’s Confession (Charco Press), a slim volume that wrestles with personal passions and political complicity. Focused on the legacies of Argentina’s last military dictatorship, the novel opens with the intimate desires of a young girl only to spiral into assassination plots, suppressed memories, and card games played with sky-high emotional stakes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.paraphrasispodcast.com

    20 min

  6. 08/13/2024

    Sean Gasper Bye on place names

    The action of Did This Hand Kill? (Open Letter Books) largely takes places in Lviv, Ukraine, over several different time frames. In this bonus episode, Sean Gasper Bye adresses the city’s fascinating multicultural, multilingual history and how it impacted his Polish to English translation. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.paraphrasispodcast.com

    4 min

  7. 07/30/2024

    Sean Gasper Bye on Did This Hand Kill? by Cezary Łazarewicz

    In this episode, Sean Gasper Bye discusses his 2024 translation of Cezary Łazarewicz's true crime thriller, Did This Hand Kill? (Open Letter Books). This historic who dun’ it explores Rita Gorgonowa’s sensational murder trial, a media event that scandalized interwar Poland. Just as the reader visits the lost world of Lwów, they are left wondering who really killed Gorgonowa's de facto stepdaughter on a cold December's night in 1931… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.paraphrasispodcast.com

    18 min

  8. 07/16/2024

    Bonus: Luke Leafgren on walls

    As he translated The Tale of the Wall by Nasser Abu Srour, Luke was faced with a problem: how to convey the realities of a Palestinian refugee camp without blanching the figurative richness of Nasser’s writing. In this bonus episode, Luke tells us about two Arabic words for wall and the English equivalents he chose. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.paraphrasispodcast.com

    3 min
See All (17)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Paraphrasis is a podcast dedicated to the art and practice of literary translation, brought to you by a team of graduate students in the Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard. www.paraphrasispodcast.com

Information

  • Creator
    Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Department of Comparative Literature at Harvard University
  • Show Website
    Paraphrasis Podcast

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