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The task of the dystranslator: an introduction to a dystranslation of the works of the ‘Pearl’ poet

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Abstract

This poem-essay proposes a queer approach to translation (or dystranslation) by considering the relationship between the poems of the ‘Pearl’ poet and the poems in eth press’s Cotton Nero A.x. Their queer relationship is not, perhaps, a faithful relationship, but it is an intimate relationship with everything that implies – including eroticism, frustration and meaningfulness. Intimacy, I propose, is a more complex and useful term for considering translative relationships than fidelity.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Chris Piuma

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  1. Chris Piuma
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Additional information

This introduction adapts its title from Walter Benjamin (2007) and its six-word line, two-line stanza poetic form from Bob Perelman (1996).

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Piuma, C. The task of the dystranslator: an introduction to a dystranslation of the works of the ‘Pearl’ poet. Postmedieval 6, 120–126 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1057/pmed.2015.12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pmed.2015.12

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