Journal | Rassegna iberistica
Journal issue | 46 | 120 | 2023
Research Article | Between Language and Reality: Translation in Ramon Saizarbitoria’s Martutene
Between Language and Reality: Translation in Ramon Saizarbitoria’s Martutene
Abstract
The mistrust of the possibilities of language to represent reality is among the main features of the narrative work by the Basque author Ramon Saizarbitoria. This mistrust is brought out by the wavering narration and the employ of an unreliable narrator, as well as by the author’s reflections on translation. This article will review the theoretical positions that Saizarbitoria has maintained and expressed in books and interviews: starting from the idea of translating developed in his own work, he offers a rich speculation about the function of translation in the Basque literary system.
In addition, the author’s ideas about translation that appear in his novel Martutene (2012) will be analysed, namely embodied in the character Julia. The aim is to describe the grounds and forms of the wide space of representation that opens up between language and reality. Therefore, the translation practices developed by Julia will be commented upon, since translation is described as the space in which the gap between language and reality is produced in a more stable way. Through the fictional character Julia and her translation work, Saizarbitoria presents several of his own opinions and obsessions about the proper use of language in the search for the “exact name” of things.
Submitted: Aug. 25, 2023 | Accepted: Nov. 3, 2023 | Published Dec. 20, 2023 | Language: en
Keywords Reality and fiction • Ramón Saizarbitoria • Basque novel • Translation
Copyright © 2023 Jon Kortazar. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/Ri/2037-6588/2023/21/008
