Self-Translating Songs: How à l'aise Are You?

• Author / Creator

  Holtby, Jessica L

• Producing song translations that are singable introduces issues that are not relevant to every genre of translation. As a type of constrained translation, song translation requires that the translator respect limits such as rhyme and rhythm and, in doing so, understand that the content must shift at times. This study examines some of these semantic shifts and the impact of using strict terms to define what qualifies as a translation. Additionally, this study explores self-translation and the issues that surround it, particularly concerning equivalence in song translation. Through an examination of six song translations—three of my translations of songs by other songwriters and three of my own self-translations—this study gives rare insight into the process of the self-translation of songs, and establishes that self-translation, especially of songs, cannot be held to the same standards as other types of translation in terms of faithfulness and equivalence but should, perhaps, be considered its own genre.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • French
  • Self-translation
  • Song translation
  • Musical translation
  • Translation studies
  • Translations

• Graduation date

  Fall 2017

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Arts

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R33J39F4X

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.