Seferis and Elytis as Translators

George Seferis and Odysseus Elytis gave Modern Greek language a substantial corpus of translations from poets working in French, Italian, Russian, English and Ancient Greek. This title offers study of translation that is shown to be a powerful tool for study of Modern Greek literature and its relation to other literatures and movements of time.

George Seferis and Odysseus Elytis gave the Modern Greek language a substantial corpus of translations from poets working in French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, English and Ancient Greek. However, the translation practices of these two Nobel Prize-winning poets have long been inadequately observed. The present volume provides a close examination of Seferis’ and Elytis’ inter- and intra-lingual verse translations with the aim of discovering their translating techniques and their personal and public goals in pursuing the act of translation. Similarities and differences between the two poets are highlighted comparatively. The methodological approach, informed by recent findings in the field of descriptive translation studies and polysystem theories, investigates the function of translation in the target culture and the relation of translation to original poetic production. Throughout the book the study of translation is shown to be a powerful tool for the study of Modern Greek literature and its relation to other literatures and movements of the time, while the task of the translator and the task of the writer unfold as two components of the same endeavour.