La serrana and the labyrinth of contraintes

THE FAILURES OF THEATRICAL TRANSLATION

by Silvia Rogai

The article proposes several observations concerning theatrical translation based on the experience of translating the 17th century Spanish play, La serrana de la Vera by Luis Vélez de Guevara. The consideration is formulated around the concept of contrainte as a restriction that regulates the creative process of translation, highlighting the need to organise the restitution of the prototext through the identification of specific predominant aspects – in the case of the example under examination, a semi-mimetic metre textual version – to limit the translation residue that typifies the complex diversification of the dramaturgical genre.